Home in the Woods
by ktrhyne
Summary: This story is a sequel to "The Island." The continuation of Logan and Lorelei's story: someone from Logan's past comes back to turn his life upside down. Rated M for language, violence, and adult/sexual content. Mature readers only. **Ficlet spinoff to this story now posted, entitled "After the Woods."
1. Prologue

**AN: I do not own Marvel's X-men, its comics or characters, or films based on them, and I do not make any profit off of this story or its content and characters.**

**This story is part of a series I have written, and I hope you enjoy my work. The series stories, in order, are: Sensory Projections, The Island, and Home in the Woods. Happy reading!**

Prologue

_Two Decades Ago_

"Nobody kills you but me." Victor Creed grasped Logan's arm with a clawed hand, hoisting his brother back up onto the lip of the nuclear reactor. Deadpool teleported suddenly between them, whirling and kicking with flashing katana blades protruding from his arms, then disappeared again.

"Back to back!" shouted Logan, throwing himself at his older brother as they faced opposite directions to do battle against their common foe. Deadpool teleported and flipped all around them, the two men barely keeping up with his torrent of assault before suddenly he was far away, across the diameter of open expanse of the reactor. Deadpool's eyes turned black, then red, as he shot huge crimson beams of light directly at Logan, who held them at bay with his indestructible adamantium claws.

Victor bounded around to where Deadpool stood, laser stare still trained on Logan, and leapt through the air to slash and kill. Deadpool turned and blasted Victor, shattering the concrete surface all around him as Victor crashed and began to fall. Logan ran up behind, his twin trios of blades glowing from the intense heat that he'd been fending off, and he launched himself high, swinging across Deadpool's neck and slicing it through completely. Victor watched as Logan took a breath, lifted one heavy boot, and viciously kicked the now-beheaded Deadpool off the edge he was standing on, the mutant's decapitated body plummeting to the ground hundreds of feet below while his laser eyes still blasted apart the circumference of the reactor.

Logan reached out, gripping his brother's arm and helping him up to his feet, doing him the same turn that Victor had done for him, but wanting no more. "We're done," Logan said to him bitterly. "Nothing's changed."

Victor curled up his lip at the Wolverine. "Brothers always look out for each other," he said, and turning from Logan, he leapt off of the reactor, disappearing into the dusty clouds below.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

James Logan flexed his fingers backward, stretching his cramped tendons and rolling his head and neck in a slow circle at the same time. The July day was hot but humid in the Canadian forest, and he lifted his hand to wipe the sweat off of his brow and upper lip. He grabbed another handful of nails, putting one in his mouth, ready to go, as he lined up the two-by-fours on the ground in front of him.

"Babe?" He turned at the sound of his wife's voice behind him. Lorelei stood in the doorway of a tiny, crudely-built cabin, the domicile that was his first effort when they settled in the mountains almost two years ago, putting down every penny they had into a few acres of forested property.

Finally, after months of saving his earnings from working for the logging company to have the timber on their land milled into ready lumber, Logan was making significant progress on constructing a slightly larger, more comfortable home for their little family. The new structure would be perched on a low bluff that overlooked a small lake, a nearby winding path providing access to the water.

His wife's chestnut hair hung down over one shoulder, pushed out of the way of their sleeping son's face, his round cheek resting on her collarbone as she cradled him. "I was just going to go put Jamie down for his nap." She inserted a questioning tone at the end of this statement, lifting her eyebrows in invitation. He grinned and nodded, and she lowered her eyelashes at him briefly before disappearing indoors.

Logan tossed the nails onto the ground, stepping eagerly over his work and grasping the hem of his t-shirt to yank it over his head, using its fabric to wipe the perspiration from his muscular frame. He walked around to the back of the cabin, where a closet of sorts kept their supply of firewood away from the elements. Reaching up to the roof of this little structure, he grabbed a folded quilt that lay there, gripping it at two corners to snap it open and give it a thorough shaking before he spread it out on the ground.

He applied his toes to the heels of his boots to slip them off his feet, then unbelted his jeans and shucked these off as well, breathing a sigh of relief as the light breeze blew through his legs to cool him down - he never wore underwear, so his body was naked to absorb the bright afternoon sunlight on their secluded piece of acreage.

He turned as the wind blew a sweet scent down to him, and saw his wife coming across the scrubby yard toward him, peeling her sundress off over her head as she did so. He felt blood rushing down to his crotch at the sight of her bare breasts, and she paused momentarily mid-step to jerk her panties down off her hips and step out of them, tucking them under her arm with her dress.

"Aw, I wanted to do that," he lamented as she stopped in front of him. Lorelei kissed him in response, her tongue darting into his mouth and fighting with his as she flung her arms around his neck and he completely forgot everything else but her.

Logan reached out to grab two hands-full of her ass, and she seemed to melt in his arms, lowering herself to the quilt and pulling at his neck to drag him down with her. He tried to lean into her to get her to lie down beneath him, but she pushed urgently at his chest and feverishly whispered, "Huh uh - my turn." He relented, and allowed her to rise up on her knees as he reclined onto his back. She straddled him, reaching down to hold and stroke his cock, which had been growing more and more firm this whole time, and guiding the tip to brush over her wetness before sliding his whole length inside of her.

He groaned at the sensation of tightness, both from being buried within her and getting squeezed by her thighs, and he raised both of his palms up, fingers spread, for her to interlace with her own and clasp him for support. She started to ride him, but her brisk pace was immediately making him almost lightheaded, and he breathlessly exclaimed, "Oh, Baby- Lor- Slow down! I'm going to- "

"Not yet," she insisted, panting with her effort. She maintained her hectic movement, biting her lower lip and closing her eyes with pleasure, and started a low, sustained moan. His eyes took in her bouncing breasts and her waving hair, not to mention the look of satisfaction that had come over her face, and he decided to take charge.

Pulling his hands away from hers, he wrapped an arm each around her waist and thigh, rolling her over and getting her underneath him in an instant. Her eyes flew open in surprise, and she blurted, "Logan!"

"Sorry," he shrugged, pinning her arms to her sides and kissing her hard. He stretched out his long legs between hers on the quilt, and rose up onto his elbows to thrust into her with an entirely different kind of rhythm: deep, solid strokes, spaced just long enough apart to maintain the warmth spreading within her. She could feel her womb vibrating as he rocked her to her core, and she climaxed, digging her fingernails into his hips and calling his name in a trembling voice.

"See, that wasn't so bad," he soothed her, pumping twice more before he came, stilling above her, his face contorting with the exquisite bliss. He rolled off, lying alongside her on his back while they each caught their breath.

Over the last few months, they'd identified their one-year-old son's afternoon naptime as the ideal hours for sex, since little James was occupied in sleep, and because at night they were sometimes wiped out from other, less intimate exertions. Experience taught them not to waste any time during their interludes, but to collide into one another, mating frenetically, in case their child decided to awaken earlier than expected.

So far, they'd only been caught twice: once actually in the dark of night, but the other time was during the day, on this very quilt, with Logan nearly levitating off of Lorelei in shock when a tiny foot appeared on the ground next to his wife's head. Luckily, James the younger - Jamie, as they called him - was too small to understand prone, naked hugging, and Lorelei was able to scoop him up and get him back to his cozy little trundle bed.

The other advantage to stripping nude and falling headlong into an afternoon quickie was that it left them time to cuddle, kiss, recover, and make love again, at a more leisurely pace this time, their libidos sated enough to maintain a watchful ear for Jamie's post-nap babbles.

Lorelei threw a leg over Logan's, flinging an arm across his chest and propping herself halfway up with the other one, stretching her mouth to his neck to lick at the salty sweat beading there.

He gave a small laugh, hugging her and protesting, "Love, I'm filthy, and covered in sawdust."

"Mmm, I like it," she whispered, nibbling at his earlobe.

He grabbed a big handful of her hair, lifting it off her nape so that he could inhale fully, comprehension dawning on him as her pheromones permeated his nostrils. Every month, a few days would come around that would cause Lorelei's sexual appetite to increase, waves of lust curling off of her while she ovulated, her hormones readying her for fertilization. Hence the lapping of his dirty neck.

"Siren," he murmured, squeezing her more tightly. He rarely used this name with her, but there was no other word for his woman that so completely encapsulated her mood during this point in her cycle. He caught her lips in a kiss.

Lorelei gave a little jump as she felt him drag a finger between her legs, massaging her slippery skin before he inserted it inside her, adding a second to join it.

"You want more?" he asked her in a low voice. She assented with a breathy little sound, and he gathered her in even closer to his body as his fingers began to move, rubbing and teasing, and his thumb pressed gently against her sensitive spot. Within moments, she was writhing and gasping in another orgasm, and Logan settled his head back onto the quilt with a self-satisfied smirk.

"Just give me one more minute, Baby," he assured her. She rested her cheek on his chest as he relaxed, the warm sun toasting their bare skin as she felt him turn liquid beneath her, falling suddenly asleep. She smiled - it wasn't unusual for Logan to take a short catnap afterward, the brief sleep refreshing him to the point that he was ready immediately upon waking for Round Two.

Lorelei sighed with contentment, not quite dozing, and keeping an ear out for their little one at the same time. Time had flown by in the years since she first met her husband at Xavier's school, and their affection and attraction to one another did not wane, despite their stressful beginning - they only grew closer.

When they left the campus in Westchester in favor of finding someplace more remote, they were lured into living for several months on The Island, a settlement of mutants who wanted to force the couple apart, and coerce Lorelei into mating with another male to sire their future generations. Logan blamed himself for not seeing through the manipulation and getting his wife to safety sooner.

Escaping the Island, two years ago they finally arrived at their intended destination: a far-flung mountain range in Canada with sporadic civilization, the people few and far between. Logan set himself to building them a home at an impossible speed; Lorelei spent these weeks huddled in a down jacket, leaning against a tree trunk in the late autumn rain and rubbing her pregnant belly, worrying about him. He was angry to have lost time to the Island, time that he would have spent erecting their cabin before the wintry weather.

At least, his punishing pace meant that he was finished in a month's time, and the work was cathartic for him - once the last nail was driven, Lorelei felt that he had returned to her, seeking comfort in her arms instead of holding on to his rage. He was adamant that he was going to take care of her in every possible way, including vowing that he'd aid her in delivering their baby at home - and he did.

Logan took a job with a logging company to support them; although most of the other workers arrived in the area from greater distances to reside in temporary quarters, he was the only "local" man on the crew, with his wife - and later, his child - ensconced at their home nearby. The remoteness of their dwelling meant that it took a significant amount of daily effort to maintain everything, but Lorelei could not remember being so content and full of love ever before.

Things with Logan and Jamie were so perfect, she was truthfully not too disappointed as the months slipped by and no second pregnancy resulted from their joinings. She felt a little guilty, and didn't want to admit it to Logan, but she was glad that after such an overwhelming few years, she and her little family had time to just relax and settle in to their life, without the added responsibility of another baby.

Just then, the unmistakable sound of Jamie's happy little voice floated out the open door of the cabin. Logan stirred and stretched, and reached for his jeans, slipping them on and offering, "I'll go get him."

Lorelei sat up, cross-legged, and turned her face to him for a kiss as he rose to his knees, a lingering contact from her lover before he shifted to the role of father. She pulled her sundress over head and arms and reached out for her panties, but Logan's hand appeared and snatched them up just before she did. She looked at him with curiosity and was met with a serious, smoldering gaze from her handsome husband.

"I'm keeping these," he informed her, hazel eyes burning. He stuffed the panties into his back pocket, eyes on her the whole time, then leaned forward languidly into her, edging his knees a little closer, and planting his hands on the ground on either side of her hips. He brought his face very close to her ear, his breath tickling her in a delicious way.

"I'm having you, again . . . later," he said, and she could feel the vibrations in his chest from his deep voice. He reached out with one hand, sliding it from her knee up and under her dress, and he brushed the knuckles of his first two fingers gently over her clitoris. " . . . and I want you ready for me," he finished, bringing his hand to his mouth and kissing the moisture on his fingers. Lorelei's breath quickened at this seductive display, and Logan gave her a raised eyebrow and a sexy smile before he pushed himself to his feet and left her staring at his muscular, perfect rear view as he walked into the house to ecstatic giggles from their son.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lorelei reached the cabin just as Logan and his namesake were re-emerging. Little Jamie rode on his father's arm, the two clearly sharing the same dark hair and brows. The child had Lorelei's fair skin and blue eyes, but his features were all Logan, something she treasured about her son. She also suspected that he'd inherited something of his father's feral nature: even at only fifteen months of age, he seemed to have sharper senses of sight, smell, and hearing than should be possible.

She leaned in to kiss her baby's cheek, which was slightly flushed from sleep, and said, "Sweetie, let's go pick blackberries - remember, we saw some on the way to the lake yesterday?"

Jamie smiled, burying his face in Logan's neck and butting his head against the Wolverine's beard. "Da-da."

"I'll keep an eye on him, you go," suggested Logan. He turned slightly and reached for the metal bucket they used for all-purpose gathering tasks like this, then handed it to her. Lorelei took it and caught Jamie's chubby hand in hers, covering it with kisses before turning to leave. He'd been weaned fairly recently, and so it still felt a little strange to her not to have her baby by her side all day, but she knew he adored spending Logan's days off with him.

"Bye bye," Jamie said, giving her an adorable wave.

She waved back, a huge smile on her face, then turned to walk a ways down the quasi-trail they'd gradually formed through the trees. The towering firs cast shade onto her face, relieving her from the heat of the summer day, and she scanned the greenery ahead, looking for areas where the sun had pierced through the branches to ripen the purple berries.

She was glad that she wouldn't have to mind Jamie on this excursion, since the little man was not always one hundred percent steady on his feet, and blackberry vine thorns could be painfully sharp. Sometimes in the past, when Logan kept "an eye" on Jamie whilst working on house construction, he'd hollow out a little circle for his son in the dirt, dumping just enough water on it to saturate the ground and give Jamie an amusing few hours of mud play. It left the boy covered from head to toe, naturally, but in absolute one-year-old heaven and away from where Logan was using his tools.

Lorelei decided to take her time at her task, meandering carefully amidst the coiling thorny vines and finding the ones most laden with fruit. Her lips and fingertips were soon tinged with purple, and she'd woven her long hair into a braid down her back to get it off her hot, sticky neck. Her bucket gradually grew heavier with her bounty, and she set it down, stretching and wishing that she'd brought some water with her.

Suddenly, her eyes lit upon something that her subconscious had noted some time ago, the warning refrain of "you're not alone" unfortunately not making it to the forefront of her mind. Standing on slightly uphill ground from where she was, a very big man watched her, completely motionless. She could see that he had dark hair and side whiskers, and was dressed all in black, including an overcoat, despite the heat. When he saw her notice him, he smiled, revealing upper canines that were long and pointy.

"Well, hello Princess," he said in a deep, velvety voice. "I've been following a scent for awhile, and it led me right here. Did you wander away from home?"

Lorelei's heart was in her throat, and the blood in her veins felt cold, even as her palms began to sweat. She knew there was no way she could defend herself from this huge man, so she started shifting her weight backward to flee. She caught a glimmer of humor in the man's eyes, along with a frightening expression of anticipation, and she realized the time to make her move was now.

Turning on her heels, she started running in the opposite direction as she let out a bloodcurdling scream, praying that Logan would hear her at this distance away from the house. Her vocalization was abruptly cut off, however, when she felt a blow from behind. The man had leapt forward to collide with her, striking her back so hard that he knocked the wind out of her, but prevented her from pitching forward and falling by encircling her waist with his arm, pinning her own arms to her sides. His other hand covered the front of her throat, squeezing her larynx to keep her from screaming again.

Holding her tight against his front, he brought his mouth right next to her ear, and the hand on her throat skimmed down the front of her body, brushing her breasts, stomach, and finally her sex, where it lingered. "I know what you've been doing," he whispered in a low purr. "I can smell him on you."

She let out a sob, and he suddenly threw them both backward onto the ground, landing heavily on his back and immediately rolling her over, his scrabbling hands stirring up dust that flew into her eyes and mouth. Lorelei found herself lying on her back, her arms jerked to one side and held tightly together by one of his hands; the weight of him on top of her felt like it would crush her as he leered down at her face.

"I wouldn't usually fuck a frail who already reeks of my brother's spunk," he said crudely, chuckling to himself. "Just not a turn-on. But . . . " he trailed off, burying his nose and mouth in her neck, just below her jaw, "the rest of you smells so good, I may have to."

He started licking her throat, fangs scraping across her skin, just barely not drawing blood. He kept her arms pinned and she began to hyperventilate, the rest of his body weighing on top of hers, and she could feel his groin against her crotch, his manhood hard as a rock. His other hand grabbed near one of her breasts roughly, digging his claws in and piercing five tiny holes in her dress.

"Ahhh!" he groaned, inhaling her scent deeply. "Fear and fresh cookies - I don't know how you're doing it, but it's making me fucking crazy. The Runt definitely should not have left you alone, Princess. I don't know if he's going to want you again after I'm done with you."

"Loga-!" she screamed, before he cut her off by covering her mouth and nose with his hand, releasing her arms to do so. Her eyes were wide and panicked as she flailed, futilely trying to push him away from her, then she started to run out of oxygen, her vision getting slightly hazy and unfocused.

"GET OFF HER!" came Logan's epic roar from the trees behind them. Suddenly, the beast was struck off of her, the sound of Logan's body tackling him producing a reverberation like a car crash in the woods. Lorelei heard the singing sound of Logan's adamantium claws coming out, and some hideous wet noises that must have been him deeply stabbing her attacker. She gasped for air, struggling to a sitting position and looking for her husband.

"Lorelei!" Logan was a short distance from her, his muscles clearly straining as he held the big man down in the pine needles. "Get Jamie!" He jerked his head to indicate to her where to go, and she followed his gaze over to a tree, scrambling to her feet and running to find their son hiding behind it, thumb in his mouth. She picked him up, clutching him to her front, and looked back at Logan.

"GO!" he yelled at her as the monster raked his own claws down Logan's back, fighting like crazy to get up. She turned and fled as fast as she could.

Logan turned his attention back to the big man, who was shredding both his shirt and his flesh with long, pointy fingernails. His face was determined, but also looked . . . amused? Catching Logan's eye, the whiskered mutant started to laugh, and Logan was caught off guard, so he punched the jerk as hard as he could, the metal bones of his fist making a satisfying cracking sound when they made contact.

But the man continued to laugh. "Jesus, Jimmy. You look like you haven't changed at all, but you fucking smell like baby shit." He caught the puzzled look on Logan's face, then kicked both of his legs ferociously, catching Logan mid-back, and flung the Wolverine off of him and several feet away. Logan grunted in pain, then leapt up to dive, claws first, at the man as he started to bound away like a mountain lion. He stabbed with his adamantium repeatedly, finally noticing with dismay that this asshole's healing ability was just as quick as his own: the wounds were closing up instantly, bloodless.

"Ha, that tickles," snickered his combatant. "Oh, come on, Jimmy, I wasn't really going to fuck her. Well, maybe a little. Whatever happened to sharing with your brother?"

Logan was disoriented, for the second time in as many minutes. "Brother?" he echoed. Something was rising, slowly, to the surface of his memory, and his voice came out hoarsely. "Victor?"


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Logan was shaking his head, as if to clear his mind, and Victor Creed scrutinized him, relaxing his body so that Logan no longer had to hold him down. "Yeah," the other mutant said finally. "It's me. I was wondering if everything was still so fucked up in your head that you couldn't remember."

Pictures were flashing rapidly through Logan's mind, snapshots of another place, another time, guns and violence, a dark-haired woman, fights with this fanged mutant, fights _alongside_ him. Logan felt a surge of emotions that accompanied the memories in his mind, realizing that he'd felt anger, competitiveness, and distrust for this man in the past, even before he'd tried to rape his-

"Hey!" Logan yelled loudly, grabbing Victor to punch him some more. "You were going to rape my wife!"

"Wife?!" Victor uttered in surprise, just before Logan's fist caught him with claws outstretched, deep into his abdomen, and his words cut off abruptly as he wheezed. They tussled on the ground for another minute, not quite trying to kill each other this time, but trading blows in a more practiced, familiar way. _Like brothers,_ Logan realized.

They broke apart abruptly and stood, panting. "Look," Victor started, "I was just trying to find you when another scent crossed my path: a frail in heat. Her signature was begging for someone to come and mount her, so I thought I'd take a little detour and oblige. You smell the need in her, right?"

Logan just glared, damning the luck that Lorelei's ovulatory pheromones were working overtime on the day that this man happens to be near.

"I could scent you on her right away, but I didn't realize . . ." said Victor. He sneered, showing his fangs. "Wife? Really? What the fuck, Jimmy? You took a frail for a mate?"

Logan slugged him in the gut again, and Victor punched him right back, causing him to exhale in a grunt before he relaxed his fists by his sides.

"Don't call her that," Logan corrected. "She's not a 'frail.' She's my wife - we've been married two years."

"So . . . " understanding was dawning on Victor. "The cub I smell: it's yours?"

"My son," confirmed Logan, trying not to swell with pride.

"Son. Shit." Victor was running short of words to narrate his reaction. For a moment, that is, then a wicked gleam came into his eye. "Does she call you 'Daddy'?"

"Fuck you."

"Can she call _me_ 'Daddy'?"

Logan buried one set of lethal adamantium claws in Victor's arm, preparing to use the other set elsewhere on his body, but Victor struck Logan with a _whump!,_ knocking the Wolverine onto his ass in the dirt. "What's the rest of her smell?" asked Victor, curious. "It was . . . good."

Logan perceived an air of lust coming off of Victor as he thought about Lorelei, and he hooked his claws around the backs of Victor's ankles suddenly to flip him onto his back on the ground, too.

"It's her mutation." Logan tried to keep his tone neutral. "She smells like that all the time."

But Victor could detect the edge in his brother's voice as they both rose to their feet. "Damn. No wonder you've got her out here in the middle of fucking nowhere. If another male caught that scent-"

"I know," interrupted Logan grimly, before he changed the subject. "Why did you say you were trying to find me?"

Victor had been looking thoughtful, staring into middle distance, but now he refocused his eyes on Logan and his question. "I'd heard rumors a while back about another mutant - mutants, actually - settling in this area. I thought I'd come and scare the shit out of whoever it was the next time I came through, which wasn't until this month. Then I saw your name on the logging crew list, and I realized it was you."

Logan furrowed his brow. "How did you see my name on the crew list?"

"I own the logging company," admitted Victor. Logan started, staring at him in surprise, and Victor looked a little embarrassed, and bristled at him. "What can I say? Being muscle for hire pays really well, and I needed to spread my wealth around a little, so I bought it."

"It's just such an insane coincidence," noted Logan.

Victor laughed. "Coincidence? Jimmy, this is where we grew up. I know your brain is all broken, but did you really not remember that?"

Logan's mouth fell open in shock. "I thought I just . . . liked it here."

Victor chuckled again. "No, we've known these woods for more than a hundred years, Brother. That's how I could find you, even with how isolated this place is. I own a lot of land around here now, but it's not the only place I have property, so that's why I hadn't come here until recently to see who was sniffing around. I would have been back sooner, if I'd known it was you. It's been a long time, Jimmy."

Images flew through Logan's mind again. The nuclear reactor. Deadpool. Stryker. The girl . . . _Kayla_, his thoughts supplied. Logan growled at his older brother. "I told you I was done with you."

Victor's face changed fleetingly, looking almost . . . hurt. "Jesus, it's been _decades_, Jimmy. Why can't you ever fucking let anything go?"

"You had tried to kill my- my-"

"You think you were the only one Stryker screwed?" roared Victor. "That son of a bitch manipulated me, experimented on me, shot me up with who-knows-what drugs, and completely fucked me over. I'm still pissed that I didn't get to be the one to end him."

"That was me, actually," Logan gloated. Victor's eyes widened, and Logan amended, "Well, me plus Magneto."

"Lehnsherr," breathed Victor. "That asshole is a piece of work." Logan nodded.

Victor continued. "I didn't kill your girl."

"I know," said Logan. He was trying hard to remember, but the details kept slipping away in his mind just as he was about to pin them down.

Victor pressed him. "We were the best together, Jimmy. Brothers always look out for each other. It blows, not having anyone to watch my back."

Logan felt the same way, not that he'd admit it to his brother. "Why did you really come here? What do you want from me, Victor?"

"I don't always have an agenda, Runt," Victor snapped.

"Yes, I think you do."

"Maybe I just wanted to see that you were really alive," said Victor. "You're such a soft touch, I can't believe you've made it this long. Who would've thought you'd be in almost the same place, still chopping down trees with a cute brunette." Logan just glared at him in response. "Jimmy, I'm not the fucking lunatic you think I am. I told you: Stryker was doing so much shit to me, there was no way I could have been able to think straight. It took a long time, but I'm over with being a mindless killing machine."

Logan was wary, unsure of whether to believe anything Victor was saying. He subtly scented his brother, and could detect no trace of murderous intent in him. Right now, at least.

"Then what the hell was all this?" Logan blurted incredulously, waving his hands around to indicate the site of their struggle and Victor's assault on Lorelei.

The other man laughed. "I'm still feral, Jimmy. You think I'm going to come across a sweet little piece in the woods and not hit that?" Logan charged at him, but he snorted and darted backward in an instant. "Look, you say she's your mate . . . I'll leave her alone. Scout's honor."

Now Logan snorted, amused at the idea of Victor having honor. "You think I'm going to let you come near her again?"

"Fuck you, Runt. You're not going to invite your brother home for dinner? I _am_ your boss, you know."

"Kiss my ass."

Victor leapt high in the air, planting both feet squarely on Logan's chest to kick him away, the Wolverine's body hitting a nearby tree, which made an ominous snapping sound. "When are you going to believe me, you little shit? I'm not here to kill you. Unless you keep pissing me off, that is."

Logan steadied himself on his feet, absentmindedly reaching his hand back and felling the tree that he'd crashed into, since the trunk now sported a jagged crack. He still didn't trust Victor, but he also suspected that the best way to keep his eyes on his brother was to keep him close by. "Okay," Logan said finally. "Come back to the house with me. But if you so much as look at her too much . . . ."

"She's all yours, I swear," Victor winked. "Race you." And whirling around suddenly in a flurry of big black coat, Victor bounded away like a panther through the trees.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Stay out here," Logan cautioned his brother as they approached the little cabin. "I don't want you to scare her. I'll go inside and talk to her first."

"Whup-ksshh," replied Victor, making a whip-cracking noise and unnecessarily pantomiming the action as well.

Logan held up his middle finger as he walked away, knocking on the door that was bolted from the inside. "Lorelei? It's me, it's okay."

He heard footsteps, and Lorelei opened the door, still breathing heavily. "Logan!" She flung her arms around his neck, then noticed Victor standing outside and she gave a whole-body flinch. Logan held her, though, and backed her into their cabin, closing the door behind him.

Jamie was sitting on the floor, a set of colorful wooden stacking blocks in front of him that he was precariously piling up, then knocking over, repeatedly. Logan tousled his hair as he crossed the room, Lorelei in tow, and then he sat down in a straight-backed chair and pulled Lorelei onto his lap. He wrapped one hand around her hip and kissed her shoulder, noticing as he did so that her dress had holes in it all around her breast, and he made a mental note to kick the shit out of Victor for that, later. "Baby, I have something to tell you."

Meanwhile, Victor meandered around their little yard area, dragging his boots through the dust and scrubby weeds, and observing the construction details that were in progress, here and there. His excellent hearing detected their voices inside the cabin; Lorelei's higher pitch sounding wobbly and scared, and Logan's low tones clearly soothing and reassuring her.

Victor was winning a staring contest with a hawk in a tree when Logan finally came back outside. He strode over to Victor, who turned expectantly to his younger brother, just in time for Logan to step forward and head-butt Victor's forehead with his own, the adamantium in his skull causing Victor to see stars for half a second. "She's changing; you ripped her dress," said Logan, by way of explanation for the strike.

"Dick," muttered Victor, twisting his head to pop his neck.

The door to the cabin opened a crack, and Lorelei came out to Logan, holding Jamie's hand. "Lorelei, this is Victor, my brother. Victor, my wife Lorelei, my son James - Jamie."

Lorelei nodded at Victor as he scrutinized her. Her cheeks were pink beneath his stare, and her blue eyes looked huge and wet, as if she'd been crying while she was inside. _Which she probably was, _thought Victor. This realization thrilled him, and made him feel guilty, at the same time. Her hair was coming out of its braid in wisps and tendrils all around her face, and beneath her dress, her legs were bare and her feet were dirty. Victor inhaled the scent coming off of her skin, taking in her alluring figure and trying not to lick his lips, since he knew Logan was watching him.

Instead, he opened his mouth and said something that he hadn't said in _years_. "I'm sorry. I scared you, but I won't do it again, I promise."

She looked at him levelly, her black eyelashes quivering as she forced herself not to cry again. "Thank you." Her voice was music; Victor could feel it flow into his ears, enveloping his insides with warmth. He shook himself a little bit. _Jesus, snap out of it, _he ordered himself angrily._ Am I seriously about to get soft over some frail?_

"Let's eat," suggested Logan, putting an arm around Lorelei's shoulder. She was still for a moment, leaning into him, then she bent down and picked up little Jamie, depositing him into Logan's arms before she turned and went inside, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Logan descended the steps, his eyes boring holes into Victor and communicating that he'd better behave in front of the child. He was surprised to see his giant of a brother actually trying to look less menacing, and he noticed that Victor had sheathed his flesh-toned claws as much as he could. Victor's eyes were roving over Jamie, taking in the features that were so much like his father's, and he seemed to scrutinize the little one's hands, searching for a trace of fingernail talons or bone claws.

"He's one of us," Logan affirmed. "Feral. You can smell it?" Victor nodded. "We just don't know his abilities yet."

Jamie was oblivious to the gravity of their conversation, and he lifted a tiny paw and waved at his uncle. Victor made a little choked sound that must have been a laugh, then raised his own massive appendage and waved back at Jamie. Victor glanced at Logan, who was observing this exchange, and said, "I never sired any young." He scoffed a little, and then added, "that I know of."

Logan perceived that this was Victor's way of admiring the child, and he just inclined his head at his brother. Lorelei exited the cabin, then, holding one bowl of chicken and one of vegetables, plus plates. She came to sit expectantly on the front step of the cabin, and Victor realized that she was going to serve the food outside. _She doesn't want me in the house,_ it finally dawned on him. He shrugged this realization aside, knowing that he deserved this suspicion, and more, and he lowered himself to the ground at her feet, accepting the plate that she handed to him with a grunt of thanks.

"What're you building, Jimmy?" Victor asked, once they were all seated and chewing.

"Larger cabin," said Logan around a bite of chicken. He swallowed, and then explained, "I built this first one in just a few weeks - it's only the one room, and the little guy is going to keep getting bigger, so we need more space."

Victor absorbed this, eyes shifting from the crude log-style cabin to the framed floor of the house-to-be, then questioned, "You're doing it by yourself? That's going to take forever."

Logan rolled his eyes. "Well, what do you think? We're in the middle of nowhere, of course I'm doing it by myself. I'm working on my days off, and it'll get done when it gets done."

"You need help - it would be stupid to carry the project into winter," persisted Victor. "If we work on it together, we'd be done in less than half the time."

"You help me?" asked Logan. "And just what cabin-building experience do you have?"

Victor looked startled. "Uh, 1849? '55? '67? And pretty much every single time we relocated to a new place because people started to notice we weren't looking any older? Just because you don't remember it doesn't mean it didn't happen, Dipshit."

Logan dug in to his food, turning this over. It was true, he _didn't_ remember it. The brief snatches of memory that his mind had supplied upon seeing Victor again were still just tiny fragments of the giant swath of years he was missing from his past. His interaction with his brother at the moment was based more on instinct and muscle memory than anything concrete. But he could feel that there was more to remember out there, floating by him; he was almost able to snag the knowledge and reel it back in.

"This is good. Thanks," Victor addressed Lorelei, indicating the food. Even without being able to recall much about him at all, Logan had a hunch that Victor was not the type of person who ever thanked anyone for _anything_.

"Lorelei, will you go get more?" Logan asked her simply, to get her out of earshot. She set her plate down on the step and went inside; he knew that she would not have wanted _him_ to go inside for extra food, leaving her alone on the porch with Victor.

"What the fuck?" he hissed at his brother. "I warned you not to even look at her - now you're being nice and complimenting her? What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Shut up," Victor growled back. "It's not my fault that she's so hot it's melting my brain. It's not just her scent, is it? What is her mutation?"

Logan cast a glance back at the cabin door. "Sensory projections: she puts everyone around her in a good mood through their senses of sight, sound, smell, touch, you know. It used to be-" he cut himself off, abruptly.

"Used to be what?" Victor insisted.

Logan weighed concealing his knowledge against the desire to share and talk about it with someone. "It used to be weaker," he noted, lowering his voice. "It was like a little bit of bliss. But the stuff coming off of her is getting stronger with time - not just uplifting, or even attractive. Irresistible."

"Shit." Victor could perceive the problem with this. Not only would human men respond to the appeal in Lorelei, but if she came across a mutant, or male feral, like she had with Victor . . . "how the fuck do you fend _everyone_ off of her?"

"Exactly," said Logan. Lorelei came outside again at this point, Logan rubbing the back of her bare calf as she walked over to put more of the dinner on his plate.

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"It's okay with me if he stays here tonight - outside," Lorelei told her husband in a low voice. She held Jamie in her arms, the boy drowsy after the long day, and looked over at where Victor was scratching idly at a tree trunk with one of his claws.

Logan kissed her forehead. "It'll be okay, Baby. Nothing's going to happen, and I'll take care of you." She closed her eyes briefly, then went inside with their son, out of the deepening dusk.

Logan jumped down the step to the ground, over to where he knew that Victor had overheard their exchange with his heightened auditory ability. He kept walking, beckoning Victor to a patch of grass that was behind the cabin, grabbing the quilt from the top of the firewood closet as he did so. He wadded up the quilt in his hands and tossed it at Victor, realizing as he did so that the residual scent of sex was clinging to the fabric, and when Victor caught it he took a deep whiff and cocked an eyebrow at Logan.

Logan just pointed at the ground. "If you want to stay here, you can stay _there_. And just maybe I'll need some help with this new cabin after all - we'll see."

Victor smirked at his younger brother. "See you in the morning, Runt. I'll be the one holding the hammer."

Logan turned to go back inside, where Lorelei was giving Jamie a kiss good-night, the toddler already asleep. Logan slid the bolt to lock the door, knowing that Lorelei was listening for this, and he jerked his shirt off over his head and stepped out of his jeans, lying down on the bed and waiting for his wife to join him. "Come here."

Lorelei unknotted the fabric ties behind her neck that held her dress up - these days, sundresses were all she could wear, because it was so hot, though Logan was not so easily bothered by temperature. She dropped her dress on the floor, crawling over to Logan on the bed completely naked, as he belatedly remembered that he still had her panties in the back pocket of his jeans. He wrapped his arms around her. "You okay?"

"No," she said honestly. "I'm really frightened. I thought- I thought that he was going to-"

"I know, Love." He buried his nose in her hair and kissed her head. "Baby, I will never let that happen to you. Never. But I'm sorry that you were so scared."

"And now he's outside." She shivered. "I know you said that he's feral, that's just the reaction, and he's promised he's not going to get near me again. But it still feels weird to have him here."

Logan hugged her to him. "If you think that he's making a move on you, I want you to tell me; I won't let him stay here. But my memories that came back . . . I remembered more just from seeing him for two seconds than I did in all of the last twenty years, combined. I know there's more that I'll be able to bring back - I just ask you to be patient while he's here, and I work on all that stuff locked up in my brain.

"And," he added, quietly in her ear, "I think Victor is . . . lonely. I was surprised that he was offering to stay and help with the house build. If he's been by himself all this time, he might just be looking for some company now."

She nodded, acknowledging this while biting her bottom lip and staring out into the darkness of the cabin. "Hey," he called softly, to get her attention. "Let's not talk about my brother any more. I had plans for you tonight." He pulled her higher into his arms for a long kiss.

She nuzzled into his chest, rubbing her cheek against his dark curly hair like a cat, which he loved. He shifted her onto her side, facing him, and inserted his leg between her thighs, his hand gripping her underneath the back of her knee. Logan kissed the breast that Victor had manhandled, noting with relief that he hadn't drawn blood with his claws.

He sank himself deeply inside of her, holding her around the waist and pressing her back into the sheets to get on top of her for his own maneuverability. She trailed her fingers softly over his cheekbones, rubbing the tips of them across his beard, and pressing them first to his lips, then to her own.

He made love to her, moving at a patient pace that he knew would signal to her that he wanted to make this last. She bucked her hips upward to meet his, and he made a pleased sound with his lips tightly closed, breathing hard through his nose for a moment as the hand he still had behind her knee gently pinched and then stroked the skin on the back of her thigh.

"I can never get enough of you," he murmured, his nose rubbing against hers from the motion of their joining.

She tickled and trailed over the skin of his back, cupping his head with her hand and holding him even tighter to her. "Mmm," she moaned quietly in his ear.

"It doesn't really sound like she's enjoying herself, Jimmy."

Logan made an incoherent sound between a grunt and a gasp at the sound of his brother's voice. Lorelei turned her head to look at him quizzically, and he realized that Victor was nowhere close by: he was still outside, speaking at a normal volume, but it was Logan's superior hearing ability that allowed him to register his brother's voice as if Victor were at his side.

This was also Victor's way of letting Logan know that he could hear what they were doing inside, in their bed. Victor chuckled when Logan's sexual rhythm faltered, his mirth clearly showing how much he enjoyed riling his brother up _in flagrante._

"What's wrong?" Lorelei whispered, and he shook his head, thrusting into her once more. He didn't want to tell Lorelei that they had an audience; he thought that she'd feel exposed and want to stop, which was a sentiment he would have shared except for the fact that his balls were emphatically telling him that now he _couldn't_ stop.

"Maybe I should come in there and give you some pointers," Victor said, choking with laughter.

Logan gave a low growl, a noise which Lorelei didn't really hear under the breathy gasping sound she was now steadily making. She inhaled, closing her eyes tightly as her voice got a little louder. "Oh- oh yes- Logan! Yes- yes-"

"Or I'd be glad to just step in for you," offered Victor, trying in vain to distract Logan from his wife's impending orgasm.

Logan came first, biting the inside of his cheek (which healed instantly) to keep him from crying out and giving Victor more vocal fodder for his derision. His convulsions inside of Lorelei took her over the edge, too, and she gave a long, sated moan and kissed him, opening her eyes and blinking at him in the dark. "I love you."

He climbed off of her, turning them both onto their sides so that he could tuck her back into his front, like two spoons, clamping his arm around her waist. Victor was silent, but Logan still felt a little pang of guilt for not telling Lorelei that their guest had been listening in.

He brought his mouth very close to her ear. "I think Victor could hear us."

She lifted his hand from her waist and brought it to her lips, then brushed it over her breast as she laid it on her stomach once more. "I know."


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As he stated, in the morning Victor was standing near the cabin-in-progress with a hammer in hand, stripped down to his undershirt under the bright sun. Logan walked over from the other little house, handing his brother a chunk of bread for breakfast and then punching him hard in the kidney for the ribbing that Victor had given him last night. Victor took the hit without budging, swallowing a bite and raising his eyebrows at Logan.

In no time at all, they were absorbed in their building task, assisting and anticipating one another's efforts like clockwork. Logan acknowledged to himself that clearly Victor had been telling the truth: they'd worked together like this before, and he also noted that the construction progress was more than doubled with the two of them.

Lorelei avoided them all day, which was difficult since Jamie was fascinated by the sight of the big men and their tools. But Logan knew that she was still feeling self-conscious and uneasy around Victor, so he took care to be the one to come get their midday meal, so that Lorelei didn't get nervous around his brother. By sundown, both men were stretching and wiping off sweat, and Lorelei had emerged from the cabin with a hearty dinner, though she still hung back quietly while Jamie toddled over to his father, raising his little hands in the air and imploring Logan to pick him up.

Logan could tell that Victor was avoiding his wife, too, and he appreciated the gesture; it showed him that even though he was the younger brother, there was a small degree of deference on Victor's part since this was Logan's household. Logan still took care to sit for dinner between Victor and Lorelei, which seemed reassuring to her, and Victor sat on the ground to eat again.

When they were finished, Lorelei just nodded at Logan and picked up Jamie, taking him inside for bed. Logan was ready to point Victor in the direction of the quilt on the grass, again, but Victor was shrugging on his black overcoat.

"You're leaving?" Logan was surprised.

"Hunting," Victor assured him. "No offense, Runt, her cooking is okay, but I need something more." He smiled, purposely baring his fangs at his brother, and running his tongue over the deadly-sharp edge of one. "You should come with me."

Logan grimaced. "No, thanks. Been a long time since I had to eat it raw, and I just don't crave it."

Victor shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, turning without a farewell and bounding away between the trees, leaving the scent of eager bloodlust behind him.

Logan inhaled somewhat wistfully. He hadn't really lied to Victor - it wasn't that he wanted the taste of freshly-killed flesh in his mouth. Rather, he missed the chase: the speed of it, the anticipation of triumph upon catching his prey, the thrill of danger that accompanied every run. He felt his pulse quicken at the thought of sprinting through the trees, dodging branches and extending all of his heightened senses in an effort to be faster, stronger, smarter than anything out there.

Climbing the steps to his house, he caught another smell wafting toward him: Lorelei, brushing out her hair. This made his blood surge in a different way, and he was eager for an opportunity to release some of the pent-up energy he was now feeling.

Logan quietly eased their door open, not wanting to wake Jamie, and as he'd expected, he found Lorelei sitting on their bed, brushing her long, shiny hair and perfuming their home with the scent he loved: fir trees, plus a hint of sweetness. It helped that she was also naked.

He couldn't get to her side fast enough, and his hands were all over her, trying to touch her everywhere at once. Then she was standing in his arms, her breasts pressing softly against the fabric of his shirt, which he immediately removed to be able to feel the heat of her skin against his. Running his fingers through her hair, he unbuttoned his jeans and half-carried her over to the far side of the room, so that their bed was between them and the spot where Jamie slept soundly.

He backed her up until she was leaning against the wall, then he slowly ran both of his hands from her bare shoulders down her arms to grip her wrists. With a muscular grace, he lifted them high above her head, entangling his tongue with hers the whole time. Logan rested the backs of her hands against the wall above her head, then he pulled them slightly away from the wooden surface to strike them back against it firmly, this gesture indicating that he wanted her to keep her hands affixed there.

Lorelei had opened her eyes at the little pain from him smacking her hands up against the wall. His gaze was searching her for any sign of protest at this, but beneath that she could see that he was hot, hungry, ready for her. _Dying_ for her. She kept her hands where he put them and closed her eyes again.

Logan made a low noise of approval and kissed her, then ran his hands back down the tender inner flesh of her arms and planted them on her breasts, breaking his mouth away from hers to lavish attention on her soft skin and nipples instead. He put both hands behind her back now, between her and the wall, and pressed against the bones of her spine and ribs to bring her even closer to his busy lips and tongue.

Finally, he was cupping her ass, getting his hands beneath her to lift her off the ground, up to the height of his waist, and wrapped her legs around him. She still had her eyes closed, arms above her and head tilted slightly back, giving him a perfect view of her neck and chest. He bent his teeth to her collarbone and dragged them a little before clamping down and biting her, just for an instant.

Lorelei's eyes flew open again, and he looked into them deeply. Reaching one hand between their two bodies, held his cock in his hand, positioning it at her entrance and then sliding in steadily. Her eyelids fluttered a little and her lips parted at the feeling of fullness.

Logan flicked his gaze briefly up to her hands, still compliantly pressed to the wall. "You're going to want to hold on to me now," he said huskily.

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Logan descended the steps of his cabin in the morning light, heading for the well to pump a bucket of water, which he gulped lustily before dipping in his hand to scrub across his face, then reconsidered and upended the entire contents over his head.

Victor was watching all of this from his seat on a nearby stump. He chuckled. "So I guess she's going to be sleeping late today?"

Logan didn't want to know how he knew, so he ignored his brother. Pumping another bucket of water, he went back into the cabin for a moment, then emerged with breakfast in one hand and Jamie under his arm. He set the little one down on the step with a bite to eat, some small turnover or something, and then tossed more of the same to Victor as he silently headed over to organize his needed tools.

The brothers fell to another day of work, Lorelei making a brief appearance to saturate the air with her scent and sweep Jamie with her away down the path to the lake for a bath.

"So what do you want to know?" asked Victor, completely non-sequitur. Logan knew what he meant, so he took a moment to consider the question before he responded.

"Stryker. What were we- I mean, how did he- why were we with him, at all? And how did I wind up with the adamantium?"

Victor blew out his breath; this was a difficult explanation. His voice was stilted and gravelly, but he told Logan the truth, about how the two brothers had faced a firing squad during Vietnam, and lived, and Stryker used their vulnerable position to convince them to join his enclave. Years later, after Logan resigned and was living with his girlfriend in Canada, Stryker was collecting the abilities from different mutants and amalgamating them into one superior Weapon XI. By staging the fake murder of Logan's girlfriend, Kayla, Victor had executed Stryker's plan to lead Logan into accepting the adamantium bond with his skeleton, since he was led to believe Victor had the same metal fused with his bones, too.

All this, plus their fight with Deadpool, had resulted in Logan's memory loss, Victor's flight, Kayla's death, and Stryker walking away. As Victor finished telling him everything, much later in the day, he cleared his throat. "The worst thing was the way he drove us apart, Jimmy. Took me a few years of being without that sadistic asshole's influence to realize: things were better when it was just us two."

Logan just stared at the wood beams in front of him, processing all the things he'd just heard. Listening to Victor, a lot more had come back to him; lengthier snapshots of his life, as if they were clips from a movie he had seen a long time ago. The kid from Three Mile Island . . . that had been Scott Summers. Cyclops. Chris Bradley, John Wraith, and Fred Dukes were dead. Even he, Logan, had died briefly when the adamantium process in the tank was complete.

And Kayla. The details were still blurry, although he had an idea of what happened: she was blackmailed into working for Stryker to save her sister, but swore that her love for Logan was real. They never had a chance to reunite, since she'd been shot during the other captive mutants' escape, and Stryker had buried an adamantium bullet in Logan's skull, obliterating most of his memories.

"I think I'm done for today," he said aloud, collecting his tools and putting them away. He didn't look at Victor - he didn't want his older brother to see the emotion that was in his eyes.

Victor decided to take off hunting, again - it had been a long time since he'd had to do that much talking, and he was through with it for now. Logan went inside to his wife and child, shaking his head at Lorelei's look of concern over his expression; there was too much to tell her right this second, he needed to think about it.

After they'd eaten and she finished reading to and cuddling Jamie to sleep, she put on one of his clean t-shirts and came to their bed, leaning back to where the head of it met the wall, and sat cross-legged, waiting patiently for him. Logan removed his dusty work clothes and came over to her, laying his head in her lap and resting a hand on her knee. He closed his eyes and sighed with relief at no longer having to withhold his reaction to the torrent of horrible incidents he'd learned about from his past.

A small amount of moisture gathered at the corners of his eyes, and Lorelei began to stroke his hair, a maternal gesture she performed on Jamie all the time, but Logan found it immensely comforting. She always knew the right thing to say, and for now, the right thing was absolutely nothing. He breathed in the soothing scent of her bare legs and fell asleep.

He awoke a few hours later - he could see a tiny hint of light still coming through the window. This far north, it didn't get fully dark until nearly midnight. His cheek was pillowed on her breast, and her hair spilled over his face; he could hear her breathing rhythmically and knew she was sleeping. He turned to her, kissing the breast beneath him until he heard a slight change in her respiration, and knew she was awake. His hand traced the hem of her shirt, and pushed it up until his lips made direct contact with her nipple, flicking it with his tongue while his hand softly stroked her other one, and she slipped the shirt off completely.

Logan was most tender with her in the middle of the night. Although Lorelei loved being with him at any part of day, she treasured the times that he would stir beside her in the dark, in their bed, and meet her body with his in a way that was gentle, sweet, and needing. Vulnerable.

Thinking drowsily in this way, she didn't notice Logan's stealthy stirrings, and was surprised to feel a warm exhalation wafting between her thighs, her husband's facial hair scraping against the tender inner skin of her leg. He applied both tongue and fingers to her in an arousing, lazy choreography on her body, her little "Ah!" cries and toes digging into the quilt telling him when she succumbed to his efforts.

She lay panting, her heart racing, and then Logan was beside her, kissing her neck and lips and gathering her in close, his arms clinging to her as if she were about to be whisked away from him. She waited patiently - she knew the signs of when he had something he wanted to say - and after a moment he began.

In a quiet voice beside her through the dimness, Logan told her everything he'd learned that day from Victor: his past, their time in the wars, the elite, secretive team of Stryker's that had caused the rift between him and his brother. The painful adamantium bonding process. Kayla.

He was hesitant to mention Kayla - it seemed like a breach of some kind to mention another woman while his wife was naked in his arms. But Lorelei just rubbed his muscular forearm, scratching her nails absently through the hair there as he told her, and she asked him questions about Kayla, her life, her death.

Lorelei could hear the reluctance in his voice - not about mentioning the violent way Kayla died, but more of a twinge of guilt for discussing his late girlfriend with her. She twisted her head to kiss his bicep, and when she turned her face to look up at him, his expression was wary in the half-light.

"Logan," she said gravely. "You loved someone, and you grieve for her. That doesn't mean you love me any less. Mourn Kayla - I know I still have all of you, and you have all of me."

He entangled his limbs with hers, burying his face in her hair, and finally let the tears flow freely.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

In the morning, Logan was out the door early, and his brother alert as soon as he heard the sound of boots on the front step; Victor did not sleep deeply.

Logan had his truck keys in his hand, and jerked his head toward the vehicle. "I'm back to work, today." Victor nodded, but didn't move. Logan shifted, hands on his hips. "You can't be here while I'm gone."

_Of course,_ Victor realized. _She doesn't trust me. Jimmy probably doesn't, either._ "Yeah," he said aloud. "How about I just ride with you? I guess I could introduce myself to a few people at the company. Since I own it," he added, with emphasis.

Logan beckoned him and they walked over to the truck. "Maybe you want to go by the store, too, get some things," offered Logan. "You don't have any stuff. Where do you usually stay when you come here?"

Victor shrugged. "Wherever I want." But he yielded his tough demeanor a little - the Runt was implicating that he could have a few personal belongings around, maybe he was going to get to stay a while longer. "Yeah, I'll go buy some shit. Does your . . . wife need anything? For the house," he finished quickly.

Logan was stunned at this display of consideration from his brother. He guessed that he shouldn't be too surprised: something about Lorelei seemed to inspire this kind of chivalry in men. It was certainly true for _him_. "Sure," he replied. "I'll write some things down."

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One of the things Logan asked him to buy was milk, which made Victor bristle a little bit - the Sabretooth being seen at a store, buying milk? But Logan gave him a condescending look, reminded him it was for the baby, and Victor relented on behalf of his little nephew.

This meant that he needed to return to the cabin, though, for Lorelei to put it into the little refrigerator they had, which ran on a generator. He wound Logan's truck carefully amongst the narrow route between the trees that turned off the main road, and stopped in the open area a little ways from the house. He looked around, because everything was so quiet, but his nose told him that Lorelei and Jamie were behind the cabin.

Victor walked that way, speeding up once he heard a high-pitched shrieking sound, and rounded the corner of the structure in an instant. The squeaks were coming from Logan's son, who was laughing hysterically as he lurched around the flat grassy area, the spot where Victor had been sleeping each night. His chubby arms were outstretched, because he was clearly chasing his mother around as she, too, laughed and whooped.

Lorelei was barefoot, as usual, darting quickly from side to side and giggling at her little boy as she danced backward in front of him, crooking her finger and daring him to come get her, then spinning away at the last second, theatrically screeching with fear. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were bright, she was breathing quickly and she pushed a hank of hair off her face as she paused momentarily, smiling widely at Jamie. _Fuck me, she's beautiful,_ thought Victor.

As if he'd said the words out loud, Lorelei suddenly whipped her head in his direction, making a noise of surprise and taking a deliberate step back when she saw him standing there. He was distracted by the sight of her chest heaving, her deep breaths causing her breasts to move up and down in a _very_ attractive way, but then Victor shook himself slightly and held up the bag containing the groceries.

"I brought you stuff," he said gruffly. "For the fridge."

"Oh." She relaxed a bit, and looked down at Jamie, who had 'caught' her now that she was no longer running around, and was clinging to her leg. "You can put it inside - the door is unlocked. And . . . thank you."

He nodded to acknowledge this, then whirled around to head back to the house, inhaling deep and long of her scent in the air now that she could no longer see his face. The odor sent a small tingle down to his groin, and he bit his lip with one fang to divert his attention, drawing blood from the puncture wound that healed immediately. He entered the cabin and threw the food in the fridge as quickly as he could, since the interior of the house was even more concentrated with the scent of Lorelei, sex, and the Wolverine.

Jumping into Logan's truck, he backed down the track and peeled off down the road, parking eventually at the portable building that was the logging office, and waiting in the cab for Logan to be done for the day. He just stared out the windshield, composing himself, because he didn't want his brother to have an inkling of the stimulating feelings he was having about her. Logan startled him when he suddenly yanked open the driver's side door, asking, "You ready? Move over."

Victor reached for the keys to start the engine. "I'm already here."

Logan punched him in the arm. "Yeah, but it's my truck." Victor rolled his eyes and scooted into the passenger seat. When they arrived at the cabin, the front door opened immediately, Lorelei placing Jamie onto the ground from his perch in her arms, and the little guy was running toward them, greeting them with one of his few words: "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

Logan swung him up high in the air, and Lorelei smiled, saying, "Come on in - dinner's ready."

Victor started, but Logan just nonchalantly strode up to the house with his son, acting as if it were not unusual at all that Lorelei was allowing Victor to enter their house. Since it was only the second time he'd been inside, Victor looked around once he stepped in the door, getting his bearings.

There was a little trundle bed beneath the window, snug between the wall and a much larger bed, which was made with a muted green and brown checked quilt. The smell of copulation was no longer as strong - _she must have washed the sheets,_ thought Victor. On the wall opposite the sleeping area, a woodstove stood in the corner, its fire extinguished in the summer evening, although it had obviously been stoked for cooking earlier in the day, probably when it wasn't so hot.

The cramped interior space meant that the small dining table was flush against the other wall, with two chairs and a stool around the exposed three sides of it. Logan sat on the stool, balancing Jamie on his knee, while Lorelei and Victor took the two chairs that were facing one another. For a few moments they were all silent, eating their evening meal.

Victor started to wipe his mouth with the back of his sleeve, then thought better of it, noticing that there were a few well-worn squares of cloth stacked in the corner of the table. He picked up one of the napkins and used that, instead. "Thank you. For the food," he said to Lorelei.

She kept her eyes down on her plate at first, then lifted them to look at him, acknowledging his kindness. "You're welcome."

Logan observed his wife, noting that she seemed less timid and jumpy in front of his brother, and he rubbed her knee under the table. He cleared his throat. "Maybe tomorrow . . . you could spend part of the day working on stuff here," he said to his brother, jerking his chin in the direction of the new cabin-in-progress. He squeezed Lorelei's thigh, and she patted his hand easily with hers, so that he knew she felt okay with this suggestion.

Victor snuck a glance at Lorelei, whose eyes were looking at the piece of meat she was cutting into tiny pieces for Jamie. "Sure," he said. "Might as well get some more of it done."

"Just take it easy," cautioned Logan. "You wouldn't want to do anything that might wind up getting you hurt. Badly," he emphasized, looking directly into Victor's eyes.

Victor took the hint. "I won't," he said simply.

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The next few days passed by in much the same way: Victor would typically drop Logan off at work with his truck, then return to the house, working alone on the new cabin for several hours before returning to the office parking lot to pick his brother up.

Lorelei was still primarily absent, even though she made lunch for him every day, leaving a neat little plate of food on the porch for whenever he was ready for a break. Sometimes she was behind the house, doing laundry by hand in a big tub, and other times she was playing with Jamie inside, or taking him for walks or swimming in the lake. He heard her singing to the little boy one time; her voice gave him goosebumps (so he stabbed himself with his claws to get rid of them, naturally).

One day, she held a grocery list in her hand and said that she was going to go to the store first, then pick up Logan at work herself. She had some little seat for Jamie that she buckled into the truck - Victor meanwhile appreciating the sight of her bent over the high bench of the vehicle, her back to him.

Jamie had other ideas. He pleaded with his mother, using his limited vocabulary to indicate that he did _not_ want to go with her, he wanted to watch Uncle Victor: "No. No. No! Stay!"

Lorelei sighed. "Jamie, come here, Sweetie. We have to go to the store, then go get Daddy." Jamie pulled out the big guns, allowing several large tears to roll down his pink cheeks.

"I could keep an eye on him," Victor muttered in a low voice. "I won't let him touch any tools or anything."

Lorelei looked pained, lacing her fingers together with her face cast down. "I . . . can't," she said, looking up at him with her big blue eyes.

He could see she was apologetic, but still willing him to understand her position: she couldn't leave her precious baby with a known murderer who tried to rape her a week ago. _Shit, when you think about it that way, I wouldn't leave the kid with me, either,_ thought Victor. He just nodded, turning his head back to his work while he listened to her pick up Jamie amidst his cries, shut them both in the truck, and take off down the road.

They returned with Logan at dusk, little Jamie sleeping in his seat, his head leaning on Lorelei's arm, and she exited the truck and scooped him into her arms, carrying his inert body inside while Logan waved to his brother, heading straight into the house to go to bed. His schedule with the logging crew was set up as four long days of work, alternating with three straight days off, and so at the end of the working days he was due for some extra sleep at night.

Logan was up early with his brother the next morning, prepared to keep busy during his three days off and make significant progress on the cabin. Having someone else to help him with the work was energizing, and soon they had all four walls framed around the skeleton of the floor.

Victor even accumulated a few belongings on the property, a few changes of clothing being the most important of these. He would give his things a cursory soap and rinse and hang them out to dry overnight, assuming that when they started smelling really rank, he'd just throw them away and get new ones.

One morning, he was in his ribbed white undershirt and pants, looking around for the shirt that he'd hung over a branch yesterday. He figured that it must have just blown away when he couldn't find it right away, and turned back toward the cabin just as its front door was opening and Lorelei came out.

"Victor," she called, waving something at him with her hands. He looked closer, and realized that it was his shirt. "I saw it on that tree and realized that there was a hole in it," she said. "So I fixed it." She held out the garment to him, and he took it automatically, slightly stunned.

"Uh, thanks," he said in a low voice, assessing the flawless seam that repaired the torn pocket, where he'd been keeping nails for easy access while they worked. "You didn't have to do that, though."

She made a placating gesture with her hand, nodding at him and continuing on to the water pump. Once her back was toward him, he looked down at the shirt again, then brought it up to his nose, inhaling at the places where she'd touched it, the hairs on the back of his neck prickling as he closed his eyes.

A few more weeks passed, and Victor had been with them for a month, taking them almost to September, the routine remaining constant with the two men working together on Logan's days off, then Victor building alone while he was at work. Lorelei would let Jamie observe the construction under her supervision, and eventually she relented twice and allowed Victor to watch him for a short while when she was busy nearby. They all ate together, either inside or on the porch, and Victor still bedded down on the quilt outside, staring up at the stars and listening to Logan and Lorelei making love.

They were all just finishing lunch outside on the day that Logan and Victor suddenly snapped their heads into the air like prairie dogs, which would have been humorous if they were not both wearing menacing expressions and sniffing the air feverishly.

"Lorelei, take Jamie and go in the house," called Logan, scanning the tree line. He leapt over the pile of roof shingles in front of him as Victor got low to the ground, creeping forward and picking up a hatchet as he did so.

"Coming from that way," said Victor, training his laser stare through the branches. "Feral, but . . . a female?" Logan assented to this in a low tone. They both concentrated for another minute longer, inhaling and squinting into the green gloom.

"More than one, I think," Logan muttered. They split apart as if they'd planned it, rushing up to two trees and pressing their bodies flush against them. Finally, they could see a little movement, shadows that were coming their way.

A woman appeared, her posture in a semi-crouch as she inched forward, sweeping her eyes all around her while she held one hand behind her, gesturing to someone else to stay back. Her ears were pointy, and her eyes slanted upward away from her small, flat nose. They could see the silhouettes of her claws, and she hissed a little as she found their scents in the air. Victor looked at his brother to see if Logan was ready to make a move, but the Wolverine was now looking confused, not fearsome, and he stepped out from behind his tree. "Tanya?" he asked aloud.

She recoiled and looked in his direction. "Ugh, shit, it's you."


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Spark!" Tanya called over her shoulder. "Come out."

Logan looked farther out into the trees, where a bright red flame caught his eye. He hadn't seen the little boy in two years, and he seemed to have grown a foot in height, his blazing hair reaching Tanya's waist as he came to stand beside his mother, looking the two men over warily.

"Who're you?" Tanya asked Victor bluntly, delicately inhaling in his direction. Victor sneered, exposing the sharp fangs of his upper lips, but Logan interjected: "He's my brother."

Tanya looked surprised, and glanced from one man to the other, finally shrugging. "_She_ here, too?"

"Lorelei's in the house," said Logan, his eyebrows furrowing together in a scowl. "Is _your_ brother here?"

"No," Tanya spat, and Logan looked relieved. "We haven't been back to the Island. It's just been the two of us," she added, jutting out her chin defensively.

Logan finally noticed that both of them were filthy, their fingernails caked with dirt and their clothing very worn. "Come up to the house with us," he invited, turning to walk out of the tree cover, and assuming that Tanya and Spark would follow. Victor hung back for a moment, still scanning the woods for any sign of others, then joined the other three, satisfied to have seen no one else.

Logan jumped up the step to the cabin, knocking and murmuring through the door. It opened, and Lorelei poked her head out, looking past him, then she flew out and across the ground, her face breaking out into a wide smile as she got closer to Tanya. She stopped suddenly in front of the other woman; Tanya was in her usual standoffish posture, with arms crossed in front of her, and Spark was like a miniature version of her, adopting the same stance.

Lorelei's effervescence would not be tamped down, however. "Tanya, I can't believe you're here. It's been so long!" Lorelei's hair was coiled back from her face to keep the heavy locks off of her in the heat, and her cheeks were flushed with excitement, the rest of her exposed skin pure and white and smooth. She looked like some kind of elfin forest maiden, which made Tanya feel even more grimy and awkward.

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered. She looked past Lorelei to where Logan was walking toward them, his dark-haired child in his arms. Her eyes softened, looking at the toddler. "That's your baby?"

Lorelei looked behind her, grinning more when she noticed her husband and son. "Yes - Jamie is his name. Can I get you anything? Food? Water?"

It would have been automatic for Tanya to refuse her chummy offerings, but she had her own child to think about. "Water, yes. And . . . food, too."

Lorelei ran back into the cabin and was out again a minute later, juggling a plate heaped with food, two cups, and balancing their drinking water bucket on her arm. Victor rushed forward to take the bucket from her, bringing it over to the well and pumping it full.

Spark's stomach growled at the sight of the cold meat, bread, and apples on the plate, but he looked to his mother for permission, first. She nodded to him, and he fell upon the food, eating quickly but quietly as Tanya picked up the cups and bucket to pour them some water, downing her entire glass at once.

"You all live here?" she addressed Logan, indicating the cabin with a jerk of her head.

"Lorelei and I have been here two years," he replied. "My brother Victor was in the area, and we've been building a new house, so he stayed to work on that," he pointed down the slight slope from the old cabin to the new, larger structure, the lake sparkling below and beyond it.

Tanya reached around Spark to grab some of the food, and chewed thoughtfully.

"Once you're rested, you'll have to tell us about what you've been doing, and what brought you here," said Lorelei softly, lifting Jamie out of Logan's arms and bending down to set him on the ground. Victor's eyes strayed to the valley between her breasts as she leaned over, which did not go unnoticed by Tanya.

The feline female shrugged. "Not much to tell. We left the Island, came back to the provincial mainland. We've been around, didn't settle anywhere. It's a little tough with just the two of us, but we watch out for each other, right, Spark?" The boy gave a sharp nod, and continued eating.

"We did run into some jerks in the south of here," Tanya mentioned, reluctantly. "Pretty territorial, even for ferals. Rednecks - no one I'd mate with. We kind of had to get out of there quick, and traveled up this way. Someone told me there were other mutants in this area, and we thought we'd check it out. Didn't know it would be you."

"We're glad to see you," Lorelei said tentatively. "You don't need to go right away, do you? I was going to take Jamie down to the lake in a little while. Maybe Spark would like to go swimming, too?" She could see that both the boy and his mother were in serious need of a bath, but she wanted to make it easy for Tanya to agree to this, without feeling embarrassed.

Spark's reddish eyes lit up at the idea, and Tanya saw this and relaxed a little. "Sure, that would be fine. It's hard sometimes for us to do that kind of stuff, since we have to be on the lookout most of the time." She glanced up at the two males, who were each on their own large enough to provide protection for a lone woman and child.

Lorelei smiled at her again, and this time Tanya relented, giving her a small grimace back that was almost a smile.

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Lorelei gathered up a few towels when their guests' appetites were sated, and showed Tanya and Spark the way down to the water. Logan and Victor had returned to their work, and Lorelei blew her husband a kiss as the little group walked down the path, eliciting an eye roll from Tanya.

Down at the shore, Lorelei set the towels on a rock, showing Tanya where the water line was shallow, allowing for plenty of splashy play for the children, but not a dangerous depth, since neither boy could swim on his own. Spark gathered up all the rocks that he could find and was having a wonderful time standing in water up to his ankles, trying to skip the stones. Jamie was instantly curious about the bigger boy and emulated these actions, making his own small pile of rocks, which he heaved one by one into the water, giggling as they splashed.

"I bathe in the lake, too," Lorelei told Tanya. "If you wade out behind that point," she indicated a configuration of rocks and soil that jutted out a short distance away, "there's a little cove around the corner. You can't be seen from the house over there." She looked up and behind them, where they could see part of the bare timber of the house construction, a flash of movement above from Logan as he walked around to grab something. "I, um, brought soap, just in case."

Tanya bristled internally for a moment, but she looked at Lorelei and swallowed her irritation, realizing that Lorelei was trying to make her feel comfortable and clean, not inferior and disgusting. "Thanks," she said. "Yeah, maybe after Spark is done playing, we'll go wash off."

Lorelei laughed, a quiet, musical sound. "When are little boys _ever_ done playing?" she asked, smiling at the other mother. It took Tanya a moment, but she smiled back.

Lorelei was quiet for a moment, then peeked at Tanya as she watched the children. "Tanya, I want to thank you again for what you did on the Island for me - for us."

"Don't thank me," Tanya said quietly.

"Please," Lorelei blurted. "You were the only reason we got away. If it hadn't been for you coming in there and helping me- "

"It's nothing! Okay?!" Tanya shouted, momentarily capturing the little boys' attention. She lowered her voice, and they continued with their playtime. "It wasn't a big deal."

"Yes- " Lorelei persisted.

"No!" said Tanya. "If it was a big deal . . . then it would mean that my brother was a crazy kidnapper or pervert or something. Like he was someone I needed to _save_ you from. He went nuts, okay? But he was never going to hurt you, I'm sure of it. He's not like that." Lorelei was silent.

"But I guess . . . " Tanya trailed off, "I guess he was still acting like an asshole. He shouldn't have tried to make you stay there with him, or feel you up or any of that. He's an idiot. I'm sorry that happened."

Lorelei took a breath. "I agree with you. I don't think he's a bad person, he just lost his mind. But it was still terrifying for me. I've been in a situation before where I was . . . forced."

Tanya started, and searched Lorelei's face, seeing the emotion in her eyes. She checked to see that the children couldn't hear her, and she whispered, "Rape?"

Lorelei nodded. "Yes. A long time ago - I was in college."

Tanya let out a breath, slowly. "Almost happened to me once, too. Before we came to the Island. You know, some feral males. . . they're like beasts. I got cornered alone one time, but I fought him off." _And killed him, _she finished in her head. "I might be feral, but _no one_ is going to touch me if I don't want him to."

"I wish I had that power," admitted Lorelei. "It's impressive."

"Yeah, I guess." Tanya was momentarily flustered. "So . . . you've been here two years? Since before the baby was born?"

Lorelei looked at her son, his hands covered in wet soil. "Yes. He was born up there, in the cabin."

"With just you?" asked Tanya.

"Logan and me, but yes," said Lorelei.

Now it was Tanya's turn to be impressed. "Wow. And you have no healing factor." She tilted her head back, looking up at the sunlight. "Spark, we're going to need to get going soon."

"Tanya, why don't you stay the night?" Lorelei asked her. "You just got here, you could give Spark a bath, we could all have dinner . . . ?" she trailed off, letting Tanya mull over her invitation.

Tanya watched her son, enjoying lighthearted playtime instead of having to stay constantly vigilant for danger by her side. "Okay," she relented.

Lorelei smiled, but took care not to let too much enthusiasm show. She was glad of the female company, which was definitely lacking on their property. "I'll go start getting dinner ready - you two take your time down here, and I'll let Logan know you are staying."

Tanya still felt skeptical, but tried to tell herself to ease up. It was difficult for her to accept offerings of help, without being suspicious as to the motive of the helper. But Lorelei's face was kind and guileless, and so she gave a little grunt in agreement, grabbed the soap, and headed out to collect Spark.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

There were definitely too many of them now to eat dinner inside the little cabin, so they perched outside on the steps, tree stumps, and balanced the two boys on laps. The food was filling, and Tanya had to admit, the perfunctory bathing in the lake had felt heavenly.

She had underestimated just how difficult the last few years would be, living rough in the woods with a child, as opposed to before when she'd roamed with her older brother, Deek. Although Tanya felt at home in the trees with the wild animals, Spark had spent the first years of his life on the Island in civilization, and so sleeping on ferns and snatching anything possible to eat was a big adjustment for the little guy. He adored his mother, so he was content to stay by her side, but being whisked away from the home he'd known, not to mention trying to comprehend his father's sudden death, had left the boy extremely confused and insecure.

In her younger years, whenever they needed money Deek would find her a safe place to repose while he went into a nearby town, doing odd jobs for a day or so, and stocking them up on fresh clothing or extra food. But though Deek's looks and friendly demeanor had made it possible for him to pass for human and interact amongst them, Tanya could not. Tanya's feline characteristics, plus Spark's youth and red eyes, meant that they could not make friendly with locals to earn any cash, regardless of Tanya's loathing of social niceties like "making friendly."

So for the most part, they'd been living under the radar, hand to mouth in the forest, occasionally stealing into the outskirts of a small city to swipe clothing that had been left forgotten outside when its owners went in to bed. And although Tanya despised the concept of charity, it was absolutely wonderful to be able to relax for a night, without always looking over her shoulder to make sure that she and her little nomad were safe. A hot meal, clean body, two big males around for security . . . she could swallow her pride and revel in this, for now.

Tanya told the other adults a little about some of the places they'd been in their travels, Spark interjecting now and then with his favorite tidbits, like the time he'd come face to face with a black bear on his own, while Tanya was high up in a tree pilfering birds' eggs. (Luckily, he'd been able to show his mother that he could climb trees as well and as fast as she.)

Jamie was looking droopy on his father's knee, so they gathered up their plates and things, Tanya making a hesitant offer to do the dishes. The sleeping arrangements for the night involved the littlest Logan bedding down with his parents, and Tanya and Spark sharing the trundle bed under the window. Victor gave them a head jerk in departure, and the other five ensconced themselves in the tiny cabin.

The close quarters meant that even in the slightly cooler temperatures of the late summer evening, the bedfellows were a bit overheated, tossing and turning as the sky grew dark. Spark slept curled up in a little ball, Tanya trying to hover on the edge of the bed to escape his oven-like body heat. She lay motionless, listening to Jamie's cute wee snores and trying to pretend to herself that she couldn't tell that Logan was sucking on Lorelei's earlobe and caressing her breasts. Tanya closed her eyes tightly, subtly pressing her ears into the pillow; it had been a long, long time since she'd gotten any kind of sensual touch, and she could feel herself getting aroused by the scent of her hosts in bed.

She eventually drifted off, and in the morning Lorelei lent her a comb and fresh t-shirt before breakfast, where she learned that there was an outing already scheduled for the day.

"We're close to being done on the new house," said Logan, "but we still need a few more things, so we have to go into town."

"There's kind of an all-purpose general store - that's all we have up here," Lorelei told Tanya. "But I wondered . . . since there are some supplies they need for their work, maybe it would be a good time to get a few things for you and Spark? Just a change of clothes, maybe he needs a new pair of shoes?"

It was on the tip of Tanya's tongue to refuse, but Victor broke in. "It's all on me, and it's going to be payment for a job. Spark will come with me to the logging office tomorrow: I have to sign some checks, and he's going to be my assistant, because I need someone to help with handing me paperwork and mailing it all at the end of the day. You up to it?" he growled at the little red-haired boy, who looked at him with bright eyes, nodding with gravity at the question.

Despite her discomfort over receiving favors of any kind, Tanya could not help but feel a hint of admiration at Victor, this clearly dominating character who did not _ask_ if he could pay her son for work, but _commanded_ that it would be so. _And I guess that means we're staying another night._ She felt a wave of satisfaction at being in the presence of an Alpha, since it was her nature to acquiesce to male ferals and their will in a pack situation; plus, it would of course be just a few items at the store. "Okay," she said aloud. "When do we leave?"

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Since they just had Logan's pickup truck for transportation, Lorelei was driving, the two little boys sandwiched between her and Tanya on the front bench seat, while Logan and Victor leaned against the walls of the truck bed, their healing abilities making them unconcerned about their exposed positions for the drive.

Tanya was a little nervous about going into the store - she and Spark had such unusual features - but Lorelei slipped them each a pair of sunglasses, reassuring her that the proprietors were a couple of elderly eccentrics, who would likely not notice or care that their friends didn't get close for a chat.

Spark made a beeline for a display of candy, Tanya already feeling herself wanting to relent on her vow to only select essentials, and to allow him to get some small treat before they left, since he never got anything like that any more. The adults clustered through the store's doorway a little slower, keeping an eye on the two exuberant little boys.

"Lorelei! Lorelei!" A lanky, wrinkled old man behind the counter waved gaily to Lorelei, who gave him a big smile and wiggled her fingers at him in response. "We just have a few things to get today, then I'll come say hello," she promised.

"Jeez, how do you go anywhere with her?" Tanya muttered to Logan and Victor, wrinkling her nose.

Lorelei heard this, and turned to look at them with a wounded expression. "What did I do?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Nothing, Baby," Logan assured her. "Shut up, Tanya."

Tanya flared at this. "The geezer wants to bone you," she informed Lorelei in an undertone. "So we," here she indicated the three ferals, "all have to scent it off the perv."

Lorelei was aghast. "Tanya, that's so crude! He doesn't think that; Mr. Cooper is just a nice old man."

Tanya scoffed. "He's a man. So he reacts just like every other man, everywhere you go."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on," chided Tanya, rolling her eyes. "You know."

"No, I don't," said Lorelei emphatically, noting that Logan looked pained and Victor wouldn't meet her gaze. "Tell me."

Tanya sighed, but continued in a lower tone of voice. "Pretty much every guy who gets near you wants to screw you. There's a cloud of horny pheromones around you, all the time."

"No," coughed Lorelei, sounding shocked.

Tanya nodded. "Uh-huh. I mean, the whole Island was hot for you, and that was before all your stuff," she waved vaguely around Lorelei, "got so much stronger."

"Stronger?" Lorelei echoed, in a small voice.

"Yeah," Tanya replied, startled. "It's even more obvious than before. I practically want to jump on you, and I don't swing that way."

Lorelei flushed. "Are you making fun of me?"

"I'm not exaggerating!" Tanya insisted, ignoring the daggers Logan was shooting in her direction. "Once at the Grange, you stepped backward and bumped into my mate, Blaze, and he _got wood._ And he knew I scented it, too."

Lorelei walked away, nearly tripping over herself trying to get out the door as quickly as possible. Logan called her name, closing the distance to her in two strides, slamming the door behind him as he caught up to her outside.

"She didn't know," Victor said in a low voice, not looking at Tanya. The female feral squinted at him through the lenses of the sunglasses she was wearing. "She didn't know that her powers have gotten so . . . provocative. She doesn't do it on purpose."

"How could she _not_ know?" hissed Tanya, trying to cover her sheepishness over hurting Lorelei's feelings. Victor just glared, and followed the two little boys as they cavorted down the aisles looking at everything.

Outside, Logan had captured his delicate wife in his arms, absorbing her tears with his sleeve. "Lorelei . . . ." He wasn't sure where to begin.

"Is it true? I'm so embarrassed - Logan, how could you not tell me? Has it really changed so much?"

"Baby, I'm sorry about all this. I just- " Logan searched for the right words. "I just didn't want you to be nervous about being near people. Yes, your projections are stronger. But I'm here, Love, and I don't want you to walk around scared. And she's wrong - it's not all sex. Although I didn't know that about Blaze," he recalled in irritation. "I guess I can't kill him twice."

"Logan!" she admonished, looking to make sure they were still alone outside. Reassured, she questioned him further. "So you can tell that others are feeling like. . . like what Tanya was saying about Mr. Cooper?"

He was reticent, but didn't want to conceal anything in half-truths from her, any more. "Yes, I can scent lust off other men when they're around you. It bothers me, but I know it won't cause you harm here in our little community, like with old Cooper - there's nothing for you to be afraid of or keep you from doing things. I wouldn't leave you alone if it was ever someone who might actually try to hurt you, like before." He was referring to the time at Xavier's, when a delivery man at the mansion had encountered Lorelei and become crazed, attempting to attack and assault her.

She burrowed her face into her husband's chest, thinking about it. He sighed. "See?" he asked her, lifting her chin so that she'd look at him. "I don't want you to feel like you always have to hide. You're safe with me, Lorelei."

"What about the woods, like with Victor?" she whispered.

Logan looked contrite. "I know. That was a fluke, though. I was counting on any male ferals who came near to scent me and avoid us. In Victor's case, he was actually looking for me when he found you instead. But . . . you're not scared of him now, are you?"

The door to the store opened before she could reply, and Tanya came out. "We're almost finished with the things on the list, if there was anything else you wanted to grab. And Lorelei . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so harsh."

"Thank you," Lorelei said graciously, patting the other woman's arm as she went back into the store.

Logan was still outside, glaring at Tanya. "Yes, thank _you_," he echoed with a sarcastic edge to his voice.

Tanya had been about to go back inside, but now turned to him, bristling. "I told her I was sorry, so I don't owe _you_ anything, Logan. She had a right to know, regardless. She's a grown woman - don't treat her like some child, who needs to be protected from the whole world."

Logan scoffed at this, and Tanya rolled her eyes and swept back indoors. But he turned her words over in his mind a little bit. _I don't treat her like a child. Do I?_

"Don't let that bitch get to you." He hadn't noticed his brother come up beside him to hear Tanya's parting shot. Victor had a bag of groceries and things in his hand, and offered his brother a beer from the bag, popping caps off two of them. "She's out of line."

"Maybe she has a point. Maybe I should have told Lorelei," Logan said sullenly.

Victor shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You're the male, and it's your house. You decide how it goes."

Logan shrugged, swigging from his bottle. The two women came out a few minutes later, Tanya carrying two shopping bags, and Lorelei carrying Jamie, who looked sleepy since it was getting close to his naptime.

The toddler ultimately fell asleep on the drive home, his head lolling to one side. Lorelei parked the truck, climbing out of the tall cab.

"Logan, can you lift Jamie out?" she asked. "Lay him down on the bed so he can have a nap? I want to get the groceries put away." She grabbed the bags and began walking to the cabin.

Spark was leaping out of the car, kicking a soccer ball that was one of the more frivolous items Victor insisted on purchasing for him. The redheaded boy punted the ball to his mother, his aim true and strong. She noticed that her son was shading his eyes from the sun, and recalled the baseball cap that had been one of the new articles of clothing she picked out for him, which was in the bag with the rest of the store purchases. "I'm going inside to get your hat!" she called to Spark.

She jumped to the stoop and opened the cabin door, taking half a step inside and stopping suddenly. Jamie was asleep on the quilt of the big bed, and his parents were standing in the middle of the room, the grocery bags abandoned at Lorelei's feet. Logan had his hands and fingers woven through her hair, cupping the back of her head as she stood on tiptoes to better connect his mouth with hers. They appeared to be almost devouring each other, and Lorelei gripped a fistful of his shirt, the fabric riding up and exposing the trail of hair on his stomach, near where her other hand disappeared into the open fly of his jeans.

Tanya made a choking sound and was backing out the door before they even pulled apart, hopping off the step and walking quickly back across the front yard. "Mom, where's my hat?" asked Spark, running off to catch his ball as it rolled through the trees.

"I'll get it later," she replied. She heard a hoarse sound, and noticed that Victor was sitting on a stump with another beer, cracking himself up. "Hey!" she was indignant. "You knew?"

"That they would be in there getting it on?" he laughed. "You should see the look on your face. Yeah, they pretty much never let up."

"Ugh, thanks a lot," said Tanya.

"Oh, like you didn't enjoy it," countered Victor. "Frails _love_ Jimmy. And didn't you say you wanted to jump on her? Let me know if that happens, by the way: I want to watch."

"Fuck you; I'm no _frail_," Tanya could feel heat rising to her cheeks. "I like _men, _not women or pussy-whipped lumberjacks." She stalked off to Spark.

"Whoo, feisty!" said Victor, under his breath, just Logan exited the cabin. "Well, that was quick."

"Tanya came in," Logan replied distractedly. "Hey! I mean - none of your business, bub."

"Speaking of," Victor casually continued, "I was kind of hoping you _were_ taking care of business just now, because you should come out on the run with me tonight. The moon is supposed to be nearly full, and the sky will be clear. Perfect conditions."

"Hmm," Logan contemplated. The thought of tearing through the trees with his brother, like the old times he could almost remember, was very appealing, especially since Tanya and Spark would be bedding down on the little trundle beside them again tonight and Jamie would share their bed - that made intimacy with his wife a little more tricky. If he passed a few hours under the moonlight, he would be able to creep in late and wake Lorelei just enough to still keep her sleepy and quiet when he recommenced what they'd begun in the cabin just now. "Okay. Sounds good. Now let's get back to work on the house."


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Tanya and Spark were outside the next morning, yawning in the cool, crisp air when Logan burst out the door of the cabin, shrugging on a jacket and carrying a bag of lunch food. "Victor!" he yelled. "You ready?"

"Yeah," said Victor, coming around the front of the little house. "What's the rush?"

"I overslept," Logan muttered. The previous night had been exhilarating, to say the least, but he'd eventually crashed hard. After fleeting through the forest with Victor, running the entire way around the lake before coming home, he'd snuck into the cabin with his boots in hand, stripping down naked in the silver moonlight that was filtering through the window. Edging Lorelei away from their sleeping son, he had poured the energy from his rapid heart rate into making love to his wife, the arms that embraced her smelling of trees and wind.

It had taken a lot of control on his part not to grab her thighs to move her in a way that he knew very well would drive her wild and make her climax strongly around him, but they had to stay quiet. So instead, he had driven himself deeply into her and stayed there, barely moving as he kept his cock buried completely and pushed her hard into the mattress. He could not see her face, and Lorelei pressed her lips against his shoulder to keep from crying out as he made her come . . . he didn't remember how many times. His feral workout session with his brother beforehand apparently helped him to last _forever_.

Finally he exploded, his own orgasm seeming to draw out for an eternity inside of Lorelei, and they both succumbed very suddenly to sleep before he could even pull himself out, passing out while lying halfway across her, hence his late waking.

Tanya heard everything, of course, though she pretended to be asleep, and in the morning she'd scooped up Spark to use the outdoor water closet and get dressed with her on the porch while he was still drowsy, so that she could save the couple the awkwardness of being trapped naked beneath the quilts with their guests in the room.

She had permitted herself a glance in the dawning light at those parts of Logan's body that were uncovered by the bed linens, which was a lot of him, then rushed Spark quickly out the door before the boy could become fully alert - she had to splash cold water on her face to cool the heat she felt curling low in her belly. Regardless of what she thought of his personality, Logan was a fine, _fine_ man.

Now, Logan and Victor were both preparing to jump in the truck to head to work. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Tanya asked her son. Spark was going to be helping Victor in the logging company's office today, as he had informed them would be the payment for buying their new clothes at the store.

"Yeah, Mom, I've got this," Spark replied. He turned and ran to the truck, leaping onto the bench beside Logan in the driver's seat and scooting over to allow Victor to climb in next. Tanya felt a small pang at watching her child drive away, but she was also proud of him. He sounded so grown-up when he'd spoken to her, she could tell that he was feeling somewhat valiant at going to work to provide for them.

"He'll be fine - there are always people going in and out of the office all day, so they'll help keep track of him. I know Victor can be a little imposing at first." Lorelei had come out of the cabin and walked up to stand next to Tanya, holding Jamie in her arms.

Tanya turned to look at her, a little patronizingly. "Spark can take care of himself. Feral males grow up and assert themselves very young, you should remember that," she nodded at Jamie, walking back into the house.

Lorelei followed her, preparing to get food out for their breakfast. In an abrupt mood swing, to which Lorelei was now becoming accustomed, Tanya turned to her, speaking quickly but not meeting her eyes. "Thank you for letting us stay over. Spark really needed new clothes - he grows so fast - but it's impossible for us to get money or go shopping. I've been thinking that we will have to go back to the Island soon, to Deek. I don't want to take advantage of your hospitality in the meantime, though."

Lorelei was taken aback, but tried to reassure the other woman. "It's no trouble for us, and I can see that Jamie has been enjoying having another child around." She smiled at her little boy. "We get so little company . . . I've liked having you here, too." She sounded tentative, because she knew that Tanya tended to rebuff extensions of friendship.

But Tanya was thoughtful for a moment, and gave Lorelei a small grin. "Yeah, it's nice for me to have another adult to talk to, also. It's been just Spark and me for so long."

"I know what you mean," Lorelei said. "I don't run into a lot of other mothers, or women, for that matter. I like hearing your perspective on the feral nature, too. Logan doesn't tell me a lot about it."

"Yeah, that would be part of that nature," Tanya said ruefully. "Feral males let their actions do the speaking for them. Like Blaze: did you ever hear him talk?"

Lorelei was a little nervous hearing her mention her late mate, since Logan was the one who'd caused his death during their fight. "No."

"Exactly. He never talked. _Or_ listened. Actually, it was incredibly boring to have him for a mate. The only thing we both liked doing was having sex."

Lorelei coughed at this blunt admission, blushing. Tanya laughed a little: "Oh please - don't tell me that you haven't noticed _that_ aspect of having a feral mate. I'm shocked that you only have one child so far." She laughed again, and Lorelei covered her mouth, grinning behind her hand.

"It's too bad you and I couldn't have spent more time together on the Island," Lorelei said.

"Well, that was hard," Tanya pointed out. "You're a little intimidating, being so perfect."

Lorelei flinched, but realized that Tanya's tone was neutral, not accusatory. "Why do you say that?"

Tanya was surprised, and gestured in the air with her hands, as if her answer were floating all around them. "You know . . . ." When Lorelei continued to just stare at her, she sighed. "You're beautiful, and nice all the time, and everyone loves you, and your mate worships the ground you walk on. You smell fantastic, and put people in a good mood just by being near them, and oh, did I forget to mention beautiful?"

Lorelei wrapped her arms around herself. "I guess."

Tanya gave her a flabbergasted look. "You guess?"

"It's not all me," said Lorelei. "The _Siren_ is not my only identity, but it's all people can see. That gets old, never getting to be myself."

"Oh," Tanya replied. "I had no idea."

"Why would I want everyone around me to be enthralled all the time? It's . . . annoying," Lorelei admitted. "You want to talk about not listening? People hear me talk and just start staring off into space half the time. It might put them in a good mood, but doesn't do much for my self-esteem if they don't really hear me."

"Sure," said Tanya. "I get that. But is it really so difficult to be gorgeous?"

Lorelei bit her lip. "I don't like the attention. Or being stared at. None of it is real. It makes me so glad that my mutation barely affects Logan. But I wish it could be like that for everybody."

Tanya absorbed this, realizing that she'd never considered Lorelei's point of view. "Have you ever tried suppressing it?" asked Tanya.

"How?" wondered Lorelei.

"I don't know." Tanya speculated. "It just seems like - if these are projections that are coming out of you, couldn't there be some way for you to keep them _in_?"

"Maybe," Lorelei said doubtfully. "Did you see that national newspaper I picked up at the store yesterday? Apparently this place called Worthington Labs is saying they've created some kind of antidote to mutations. They're calling it 'The Cure.' It would make us . . . normal."

"No, don't even think about it," Tanya said emphatically, following her train of thought. "That's dumb. It might be difficult sometimes, being so desirable, but it _is_ part of who you are. Don't be ashamed to be a mutant, Lorelei - what kind of example does that set for your son?"

Lorelei glanced guiltily at Jamie, who was kneeling on a dining chair at the table, nibbling a piece of bread. "You're right. I'm not ashamed, but I didn't even think about that. Thank you, Tanya." She kissed the top of Jamie's head. "I _could_ try to control my powers, I just don't know where to start. Concentration? Meditation? Do you think sometime I could practice on you, Tanya?"

"Um, sure, whatever," Tanya offered, trying to hide how pleased she was that Lorelei was asking for her help. "I'm going to get busy washing all of our clothes now that Spark is out of the way. You want to come down to the lake with me in a little while?"

"Yes," Lorelei said companionably. "I'd love to."

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"Here you are, Mr. Creed - this is the last of those purchase orders."

"Thanks," said Victor, taking a small stack of papers from the office manager, who was practically shaking at the sight of him. Victor usually signed over a power of approval to him, so that paychecks could be issued and purchases could be made even if Victor was halfway around the world from this logging company he owned. But he'd told the manager that he wanted to see accounting ledgers from the past several months, sign the orders, review timesheets and all that while he was in town.

To himself, he was thinking about staying in the area awhile longer. He and Jimmy were almost finished with the new house, and it had not escaped Victor's notice that this would leave their other, tiny cabin empty of residents. He'd found that he liked being close to Jimmy and his family more than he dared to admit. He had considered offering to pay for an electrical line to be run out to the remote property, and wondered whether Jimmy would accept this as his contribution if he were allowed to move in to the vacant domicile.

"Here." He turned his attention back to the five-year-old hovering at his elbow. "All of these need stamps, too." Spark eagerly took several envelopes from his hand, grabbing the book of stamps and sticking each one precisely up in the corner each time.

Obviously, Victor had manufactured these office duties for the youngster. After Tanya and Spark's arrival at Logan's place, Victor had taken notice of the scrawny little boy, the way his clothing was just a little too tight, and much too worn and dirty, and there were slits cut into his shoes for his growing toes to poke out.

If Victor were the emotional type, he would acknowledge that he felt sympathy for the child: no father, no real home, living tentatively on the border between civilization and wildness. He would also note that it reminded him of himself, and his own challenging youth with the Runt as they drifted from place to place.

But he avoided that kind of introspective depth, so he pushed it out of his mind, and just kept it simple: he was rich, and this kid needed stuff. End of story.

Since the boy was feral, though, Victor understood that Spark - and Tanya, for that matter - wouldn't take kindly to charity, hence the day of paperwork. He knew that the woman and child would submit to his dominance if he _stated_ that Spark would be helping him, instead of _asking_, and also that it would be a big boost to Spark's developing manhood to view himself as providing for his mother.

"Okay, we're done for now," he said to the kid. "But I want to go out to the job site to see the foreman." In actuality, he didn't need to talk to the foreman, but he did need to waste time and thought that Spark would find it fun to put on a hard hat and watch the big saw for a little while. But he wasn't about to deflate his little assistant's ego by treating him like a baby who needed to be entertained.

He mentally joshed himself a little bit for wanting to show off for the boy, let him see just how important Victor Creed was around this place, but even in his own head he couldn't deny that he liked the admiration he observed in Spark's eyes as they spent the day together. He noticed that after a little while, Spark was even emulating some of his postures and expressions, whether or not these actions were deliberate.

_This must be what it feels like to have someone looking up to you, instead of just having people afraid of you, _mused Victor. _No wonder Jimmy loves having his little cub tag along after him everywhere._

"Good afternoon, Mr. Creed." Another employee greeted him as he handed Victor the keys to the work truck that would take him and Spark out to the felling site. Victor jerked his head in response to the man, then looked down at the kid, and added, "This is Spark." Spark jerked his head at the man in an echo of the big feral's gesture.

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"Okay, so let me know when you feel something. Or feel nothing. Or feel something change?"

"Lorelei!" Tanya said, exasperated. "I know what you mean, just try already!"

Tanya and Lorelei were out perched on two tree stumps in front of the cabin, inside of which Jamie was curled up for his nap, and Lorelei was nervously attempting to ready herself for some mental gymnastics to practice controlling her mutant abilities.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then snapped them open again right away. "So what do you feel now? Just as a baseline?"

Tanya gritted her teeth and blew out a breath through her nose. Finally she muttered, "I feel happy - even though I know I'm not. It's . . . reassuring. Like someone who loves me wants to take care of me. I smell hot cocoa and lavender. Reminds me of my grandma. She was always nice to me." Tanya looked over her shoulder at nothing, blinked a little wetness out of her eyes.

"Okay." Lorelei pretended not to notice the tears. "Here goes." Lorelei furrowed her brows together fiercely, pursed her lips, and wrinkled her nose.

Tanya laughed. "I don't think that face is going to help you all that much." Lorelei waited a beat, then stuck out her tongue at the other woman, which made Tanya laugh more.

Letting her eyelids come down slowly, Lorelei turned her focus inward, concentrating on the warmth she could feel coming from her skin. She meditated on this sensation, envisioning herself as glowing with a blinding golden light, which was the first image that jumped to her mind. As if she could put her hand on a dimmer switch, she imagined the light diminishing, until her body had a pale yellow glow instead of hot bright sunshine.

"Whoa," said Tanya. Lorelei's eyes flew open immediately, and she lost her train of thought. "Did you do something? I swear I think I felt something change."

"Really?!" Lorelei was ecstatic. "Let me try again!"

She lowered herself down into the same exercise, but couldn't settle her mind in the same way - she was too excited. She pressed her hands onto her lap, trying to keep her legs from jiggling with impatience.

"Lorelei, chill," Tanya cautioned her. She reached out her hands and pressed them down on top of Lorelei's to still her jumpy legs. "Turn around," she suggested, "so that your back is to me. That might make it less distracting for you." Lorelei turned around obligingly, and closed her eyes again, breathing deeply into her abdomen to slow down her heart's frenetic pace.

By the end of the day, she was able to successfully withdraw her powers from Tanya's consciousness three times, with the durations of these accomplishments growing in length until finally she got up to about twenty-five seconds free of sensory projections.

"Wow, that was exhausting," said Lorelei. "But satisfying, too. Although that's when I'm sitting still and quiet; it will be harder to suppress the other senses' receptions, like auditory, and touch . . . ."

"One thing at a time," Tanya reminded her. "You did it, didn't you? And if you can suppress it even a little, that's important, right? Even if you didn't talk or touch people, but you could suppress some of your pheromone scent, you might not be affecting them hardly at all."

"Yes, you're right. I didn't think about it that way," Lorelei realized. "Thanks, Tanya - you were inspiring."

"Um, okay." Tanya was closing herself off again, getting up off her stump and dusting her bottom. "The guys should be back soon, huh?"

Lorelei floated into the cabin, Jamie trailing behind her now that he was up from his nap, and readied the dinner dishes that she'd prepared earlier in the day. The timing was perfect, because just then their truck pulled up in front of the cabin with Logan, Spark, and Victor piling out the door.

"Mom! Mom!" Spark's voice was breathless with excitement. "I saw a huge saw! And a backhoe and skid steer!" He reigned in his enthusiasm, glancing at Victor, and drew his tiny chest up a little bit. "We got a lot of work done," he told her in a more modulated tone. "Right, Victor? I mean, Mr. Creed?"

"Victor is fine, 'kay?" said the big man as he clapped Spark on the shoulder, heading to the pump for a drink of water. Tanya waited until Victor's back was turned to them, then bent down to hug and kiss her son, whispering that she couldn't wait to hear all about it.

Logan picked up Jamie to squeeze the little guy, then leaned him to one side as he kissed Lorelei hello, his hand pressing firmly into the small of her back. "I have something to tell you," she said to her husband. He gave her an interested look and set Jamie down on the ground.

Lorelei held up her hands for him to stand still, then she closed her eyes and practiced withdrawing the reach of her power. She exhaled slowly as she concentrated, motionless in their front yard, then eventually opened her eyes to look at Logan. "Well?" she asked.

"What just happened?" Logan sounded worried. "That felt strange."

"That's me, trying to turn off my abilities," Lorelei informed him. "I learned to do it on Tanya today, and wanted to see if you could tell, too."

"Turn off? What?! Baby- " Logan was getting worked up, his eyebrows lifting. "Why would you do that?"

"I just . . . I just wanted to see what it would feel like if they weren't there, some of the time," Lorelei said, leaving out the fact that she the suggestion had come originally from Tanya.

Logan wrapped his huge arms around her, holding her against his chest and glaring at Tanya over her head. "No. I want you just the way you are. Don't change anything or take anything away."

"Logan- " she started.

"What's for dinner, Baby?" he changed the subject. She looked crestfallen, but he held her hand tightly as he pulled her along with him into the house. Victor watched them go, his face inscrutable.

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Later over dinner, Victor cleared his throat. "I was thinking," he said to his brother, "that since you'll be at work the next three days, I can get the floor of the new house sanded, and go pick up the windows we ordered: they come in on Tuesday. But by tomorrow, it should be ready enough for people . . . do you want to move some stuff in then? Make it less crowded in the cabin?"

The new house would have more than one room; it sported a large, comfortable front area that was a combination of kitchen, dining, and living space, and a rear bedroom at the back of the house that was partitioned in two by a wall jutting out perpendicularly about seven or eight feet. It was designed to be the perfect length to conceal Logan and Lorelei's double bed, so that they could have privacy at night without needing to make provisions for two full bedrooms.

Logan listened to his brother's suggestion, nodding. "Good idea. We could move the big bed over, then make up a pallet for Jamie so that Tanya and Spark can still use the trundle bed in the cabin for now."

Tanya was a little surprised to hear this, since it predicated on her and Spark staying at least another night or two with the Logan family, but she decided to hold her tongue for now; she was appreciating these easy days to clear her head, and make some decisions about their future. If they were going to return to the Island, as she'd mentioned to Lorelei, then a few extra days of a clean, soft mattress and real cooked meals before they made their way West would not hurt them.

Spark was distracting Jamie after they finished dinner, poking sticks into the ground and playing "logger" as they felled them, one by one, making gnashing machinery noises as they did so. Lorelei went to bring their dishes inside, grateful that the warm August night still allowed their group of six to dine outdoors, and Logan followed closely in behind her, stroking his hand along her elbow and trapping her between him and the table.

He rested his chin on her shoulder. "Really. Talk to me. Why would you try to shut off your powers?"

She quirked her lip and patted his cheek, pressing her face against his. "It's nothing. Just . . . you tell me my powers are stronger, and it makes me wish that sometimes I could go places and do things without feeling self-conscious that everyone is hot for me, as Tanya put it. Why is that bad?"

He snaked an arm around her waist. "You're perfect. I love you the way you are and I don't want you to change. Don't do it again, okay?" He kissed the top of her head and went outside, leaving Lorelei with the uncomfortable knowledge that this sounded like an order.


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

"Yes!" Logan gloated the next morning, as Lorelei got dressed. "Victor is sanding the floor in the new place today and we're moving in." He grabbed and kissed her deeply, fondling her breasts at the same time. "How many nights has it been that we've had guests sleeping next to us? A million?"

"Three," replied Lorelei. She giggled a little, but gripped his hands to get his attention. "Babe! I'm looking forward to getting back in bed alone with you, too. But can I talk to you about last night?" She took a breath. "I understand that you love me the way I am, and I love _that_ about you. You just . . . when you said _don't do it again,_ that sounded a little scary."

"Oh," Logan said with surprise. "I don't mean to scare you."

"You were out running with Victor last night, or I would have said something sooner - I wanted to talk to you about it privately," she murmured, sliding her hands around his waist and kissing his chest, then looking back up at him, her shirt gaping just a little to reveal a circular red spot on her neck.

Last night, after another windblown trek through the forest with his brother, Logan had come back to bed absolutely transfixed, holding her body tightly as they came together. His lips had traveled all over her, landing at the base of her throat for an extended period, eventually yielding the mark he'd just noticed.

"Oh, shit, looks like I gave you a hickey," Logan said. "I'm sorry for that. About what I said . . . I guess I just spoke straight from my gut. I didn't realize it made me sound like such an Alpha."

"Alpha is a good description," Lorelei noted, touching the tender place on her neck. "So, can I try on you again? See if I can concentrate on suppressing my powers?" she asked, rubbing her cheek on his sternum.

"No." His voice was definitive, and he patted her bottom to try to defuse the situation. "Can we talk about this later? I have to go to work, and I want you right here, your same wonderful self, when I come home."

"Okay," she said reluctantly, as he kissed her good-bye thoroughly. He grabbed the truck keys and darted out the door of the cabin.

Lorelei stood in the doorway, watching him prepare to leave. Victor was just outside, and he glanced up at her, doing a double-take when he saw the mottled red circle of broken blood vessels on her neck. In an instant, he was hot all over and on his feet, indignant and jealous.

He strode over to Logan's truck, catching and holding the driver's side door just before Logan was about to slam it shut. Victor gritted his teeth, his voice low. "You tell me not to call her a frail, but do you understand she _is_ frail? Take. It. Easy. I have used women and broken them before - she can't take everything that our nature wants to give."

"And just what makes that your business? Why are you even looking at her?" Logan squinted at him, appraising. "Maybe I do need to mark her, before you start getting crazy ideas like thinking you want her."

"Everyone wants her!" growled Victor. "And you have her. So don't fuck it up, Runt." Logan wrenched the door out of his grasp, closing it this time.

With two young children, their mothers, and two feral men making up the population of their little homestead, they were all early risers, so Victor got to work sanding the floor of the new cabin when Logan left, and Lorelei brought him breakfast after a short while. Tanya was sitting on the porch with both Jamie and Spark on her knees, waiting for Lorelei to fire up the little white fuel camping stove that was only used for coffee. "Thanks," she said, when Lorelei offered her a cup.

"You're welcome," said Lorelei, tossing her long hair off her face. She noticed when she did that, Tanya's eyes were riveted to her neck, and so she ran her fingers through her chestnut locks, flicking them forward over her shoulder to cover the mark just beneath her collarbone.

Tanya whistled audibly, seeing Lorelei's embarrassment about concealing the mark. "Hey," she said, softly. "You know that's normal, right? Him marking you? C'mon, Lorelei."

Lorelei blushed, covering herself with her hand. She hesitated, but eventually she spoke up. "He's not really done that before, in the years we've been married. Just . . . now."

Humming a little bit, Tanya looked at her, then stood, gently displacing the two boys. "That might be because of his brother. You said Victor's only been here a month or so? I remember that used to happen with Deek." She looked at Lorelei, to make sure she didn't object to hearing more about Tanya's brother, her erstwhile abductor.

"Whenever he would spend close time with other feral males - continuously - he would get more dominant and physical than usual." She smiled, trying to make light of it. "He'd expect me to just submit and do whatever he said, and I'd play nice, to an extent; I am female, after all. But after awhile it's like, 'Shut up, Bro, I'm not your mate.'"

Tanya reached out, slowly, and touched the spot on Lorelei's neck, though Lorelei didn't look at her. "Blaze used to mark me - harder than that," she whispered. "You just don't have a healing factor. But it will fade. You know he loves you . . . separate from this," she brushed the welt again. "The physical connection is different than love, for males. My mate marked me, but he didn't love me."

Lorelei felt a twinge of sympathy for this part of Tanya's past. "I understand," she said quietly. "It's just that he's not usually like that."

Tanya rolled her eyes; her patience had run out. "Lorelei, don't be such an infant. He's not human, and neither are you - you can't expect him to just act like a regular man. This is his _nature_. Don't put a leash on a Wolverine and pretend that he could be satisfied with that, for the rest of his life." She flounced away, crunching across the fir needles.

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The day flew by, and soon Victor had finished with his work inside the new house. Lorelei came in, energetically sweeping the floor and admiring the nearly-completed project from the inside. Everything was done, save for the windows that were arriving soon, and the front door, which Logan and Victor were still going to make, by hand.

Inside her new home, Lorelei could not stop grinning. "Thank you so much, Victor," she said effusively. "It wouldn't have been done so soon without you. It was really considerate of you to stay here and help."

He looked at her, broom in hand, her smile wide and her gaze sincere. He noticed that for the first time since he'd encountered her in the woods, all those weeks ago, she was looking at him like a regular man, not like someone who had wrestled her to the ground with the intention of forcing himself on her.

_But I didn't know her then. _The thought drifted through his mind, and he smacked it away. What should that matter? He was Victor Creed, after all, and to him, frails were only good for one thing, right?

_More than one thing, _insisted the annoying voice in his head, as he watched Lorelei beam down at her child toddling into the yawning front doorway of the house. He snorted, trying to tamp down the jealousy he felt for his brother and the life that was right in front of him: loving mate to warm his bed and give him young, a son who idolized and adored him. It was getting harder and harder for Victor to pretend he didn't want these things.

Tanya came in through the doorway now, carrying two of the dining chairs, with Spark hauling the third one in behind her. "Moving time, huh?" the female feral said to Lorelei, sounding pleased.

"Oh, thank you!" Lorelei said. "I think the big bed is the only other crucial thing to bring over tonight, and that can get done when Logan comes home."

"I got it," insisted Victor, heading into the little cabin. He kicked himself for not thinking about the scents that he would detect from the large mattress, activating his jealous bone again. He eased the wooden bed frame apart in several pieces to carry across the yard, and luckily Logan returned home from work within a few minutes, so the mattress fell to him to transfer to the new house.

There was a flurry of activity, with the men moving furniture, the women readying dinner, and the children running around ecstatic between the two houses. Eventually, everyone was fed, settled, and retiring to their respective places of rest for the night.

Lorelei folded up several blankets and quilts for Jamie to sleep on next to their bed, since the new house had so much more available floor space compared to the tiny cabin. Once Tanya and Spark weren't using the trundle bed, they could move that into the little alcove they'd created for it in the new house, but for now, Lorelei wanted their baby to feel reassured by the closeness of his parents sleeping nearby.

Logan, meanwhile, called out good-night to his brother, privately wondering how much longer Victor would want to bed down outside on the grass, now that the new house was pretty much finished _and_ the weather would be turning cooler. As much as he'd appreciated all the help Victor had provided, he felt a nagging sensation after their brief argument that morning, telling him that it was probably time for Victor to go. Something about two dominating, competitive males sharing such close space did not seem like a good idea.

Once their little boy had fallen asleep, Logan leisurely removed his wife's clothing, reveling in the opportunity to admire her body uncovered. He was so careful as he stroked and manipulated her, making love to her in a way that felt safe and familiar, and Lorelei sighed with happiness that her husband seemed back to his normal self, without the neck biting and marking.

Although . . . she did distantly note that it had been a long time since he'd let her be on top for sex - he only ever wanted to feel her underneath him, lately. She cast this aside for now, drinking deeply of his lips and relaxing in the security of his arms.


	12. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Two more days passed by, and Tanya was starting to feel down. She and Spark had been absorbed almost seamlessly into the familial environment of this home, and she was surprised to see that it felt . . . good. Great. Even though she had been longing for years when she lived on the Island to return to the freedom of the woods and mountains, she realized now that motherhood had changed her more than she suspected.

With her boy by her side, developing steadily into a young man, she found that the vagrant lifestyle of roaming the forests was not the best for his childhood. She didn't want to raise a feral who would be so unused to civilization and other people that he'd be unable when he grew up to provide for himself or enjoy companionship. These days of watching him with Victor, Logan, and even Lorelei and her son showed Tanya that he needed more stability, a male role model, a healthier diet.

This meant that she'd have to swallow her pride and go back to the Island, to her brother, who could give her son all these things, and more. It would be hard to crawl back to the place that she'd hated, especially since the last time she saw Deek, she'd been rendering him unconscious to set Lorelei free, but she knew that her brother would forgive her in order to care for her and Spark.

Sighing at the thought of leaving this cozy place, she watched Spark dance around an outdoor fire with Jamie, the flames as brilliant as her son's hair. Even though it wasn't dark out, Lorelei had coaxed Logan into building a small fire for the boys to roast marshmallows after dinner. He'd backed the truck a little way down the drive, so that the fire was alone in a dirt area, away from the trees, and on the far side of the small cabin, the opposite side of the new house.

Lorelei was smiling, but Tanya could see that she was poised on the tips of her toes watching Jamie to make sure he was keeping a safe distance from the fire. Logan hugged her into the side of his body, his fingers idly playing with the ends of her chestnut mane and his gaze on the two elated little boys as well.

Turning her attention to Victor, who was sitting a little away from the fire, across from them, Tanya saw a surprising expression on his face, one that she couldn't immediately place. He looked . . . wistful. His eyes were on the youngsters, who were jumping and giggling as their sugar highs reached epic levels, and his eyes indulgently crinkled at the corners as he _smiled_ at the two of them - Tanya wasn't sure she'd ever seen him smile, instead of just sneer with sarcasm.

Marching around the flames, Jamie was following closely behind Spark, who suddenly stopped short, causing the littler boy to bounce off his back and fall heavily to his bottom on the ground. Jamie wasn't hurt, and the expression on his face elicited a round of laughter from all of the adults. Now Tanya saw Victor raking his eyes over Lorelei as she laughed, smiling up at Logan and taking his hand. The naked longing that was on Creed's face was so intense, Tanya had to look away from him for a moment, and when she snuck her gaze back in his direction, she could see that he had averted his eyes, rolling his shoulders as if to shake himself out of a reverie.

She felt that she'd seen enough, for now. "Spark, time for bed," she said abruptly.

"Yes, Jamie should get to sleep now, too," Lorelei agreed. "Come on, you crazy boys."

Logan scooped up his son and headed off to the big house, still holding Lorelei's hand, and Tanya held open the door of the tiny cabin for Spark to walk in, despite his protests. Victor paced slowly around the fire, hands in his pockets, reassuring them that he'd douse the logs in a little while.

"Logan," Lorelei asked, once they were inside their house. "You and Victor were going to finish sealing the windows tomorrow, right?" Now at the end of his four-day work shift, Logan was ready for three days off to power through the rest of the house jobs with his brother, completing the work on their new home.

"Yes, first thing in the morning," Logan confirmed. "It may take all day to dry."

"In that case, since you're going to be busy, I think I'm going to go down to the lake to wash off in a minute, since it's still light out," Lorelei said. "Can you finish putting Jamie to bed? I'm going to get my things together."

"Ooh, that water's going to be cold, Baby," teased Logan. "Yeah, I've got him. You go ahead."

Outside, the flames were flickering lower as Victor stood staring into them, hypnotized. The sky was turning purple and gold behind the trees, and the mosquitoes were starting to come out for their evening meal. He barely noticed when Tanya came back out of the little cabin after Spark fell asleep.

He looked over at her. "Hey. You staying up?"

She just shrugged. "It's still early, and I'm not tired."

His lip curled up at this statement, and his response was almost automatic. "You looking for someone to wear you out?"

She arched one eyebrow. "Oh, please. That's not what you want."

This caught his attention. "Yeah? Matter of fact, I've been getting pretty lonely out there on that grass all by myself." He took a step closer to her, watching her expression.

She looked disdainful. "You want _her_."

"Who? Lorelei?" He smirked. "If I scent a frail and don't try to fuck her, I'm probably dead."

"No," Tanya continued, her voice rising. "You don't want to fuck her. You want Lorelei to do the stuff to _you_ that she does to your brother."

Victor pretended to look puzzled. "Does Jimmy _not_ fuck her? That would make sense, actually, you know," he leaned in conspiratorially, "I think he's incapable. That kid looks nothing like him."

Tanya was undaunted, a goading gleam in her eyes. "You want her to _hold_ you. You want her to _snuggle_ you. You want to- to-" she cast about for the word, then lit upon it in triumph: "_spoon_ her. Like a little bitch."

Victor swiped a paw across her face, claws extended, ripping open ragged gashes across her cheek. She hissed at him and spat blood, even as the wounds were sealing themselves up like they were never there. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Ohh, you've got it bad, don't you?" Tanya purred, taking pleasure in mocking him. "That must drive you crazy to lay out here, listening to him give it to her every night. And it sounds like he's really good at it, too," she gloated, laughing a little. "Why would you even want to try to measure up to that?"

"It sounds like _you_ are the one interested in them having sex," he said, trying to turn the tables on her. "So you want to climb on my brother, huh?"

"You know you will never have a chance with her," Tanya continued her tongue-lashing. "Why do you hang around here? _Everyone_ is in love with her, so you have to get in line if you even want a chance to kiss her feet."

Victor caught her by surprise, tackling her upper body and pulling them both seamlessly into a roll across the grass, with him winding up on top of her. She was struggling, but he was enraged at this point, and much stronger than she was, regardless. He drove his knees into her thighs, which made her yowl, and she clawed at his face with her razor-like nails.

He growled and bit one of her fingers, tasting her blood, then he jammed his elbows down onto her, pinning one of her upper arms and one shoulder to the ground. This left his hands free to grip her hair roughly, slamming her skull back onto the ground and making her choke a little. Breathing quickly, he brought his mouth down on top of hers.

She was kissing him back, opening her lips and licking him, clashing her fangs with his, and bit down hard on his lower lip, swiping her tongue across the bloody wound. He made a sharp sound at her, reprimanding her for that aggression on him, and he ground his pelvis down on top of hers, which made her moan and purr at the same time.

He adjusted himself, straddling her now, and released her arms, keeping a close eye on her to see what she'd do. She left one arm down by her side, but the other one snaked up, slipping between them until he felt her hand rubbing over his cock, firm in his pants. He snarled appreciatively, and gripped her neck, exposing it to himself more, and mashing his lips there against her skin to snarl again.

Victor stuck his hand up underneath her tank top, using his claws to graze her stomach, making a few shallow slices into her skin. She drew breath in - hard - then continued panting and massaging him, now working at the zipper of his pants. He moved his hand higher, grabbing her breast, his skin making direct contact with hers since she was not wearing a bra.

The month that Victor had been staying with his brother and his wife was probably the longest he'd ever gone without sex. The last woman's body he'd felt beneath his, in fact, was Lorelei's, from the day in the woods when he'd scented her and dragged her to the ground. The sensations from then to now were so different.

Lorelei was soft _everywhere_. Her skin, even gritty with dirt from where she'd been struggling on the ground, was like a flower petal, and had smelled just as good. Her torso and limbs had been pliant, crushed by his heavy, muscular frame, and he could remember how arousing it was to feel her quivering under him, the roundness of her breasts touching his taut abdominals.

Tanya, on the other hand, was long, limber, and wiry. Her frame was more narrow than Lorelei's, and she was quite thin, with none of the pleasant squishiness happening when he laid on top of her. Victor remembered how Lorelei had tasted when he ran his tongue over the skin of her throat, and his tongue reached out at this memory, lapping a trail from Tanya's clavicle to her ear, where he sucked and then nibbled on the lobe.

He heard her gasp a little bit, and he closed his eyes, nuzzling his nose into her hair and kissing her temple. He brought his mouth down to hers and kissed her deeply, with less urgency this time, and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck to support her head up a little to meet him. Victor could feel her hand cease its attempts to rip open his pants, and he drew his fingers up the side of her thigh, dragging them gently on her arm and encircling her bare shoulder.

He now brought both hands down to her chest, covering her breasts and applying his thumbs to her nipples, making little circles and stimulating them. He could feel her thighs moving around, wiggling together as he touched her cheek with his lips and brushed kisses on her jaw.

Abruptly, Tanya brought a knee up in between his legs, colliding with his balls and simultaneously shoving hard at his chest, the sharp pain he felt making it easy for her to shunt him to the side and leap to her feet. She spat on the ground.

"What. The. Fuck?!" she hissed. "I am a female _feral_, you pathetic little puppy. If you are not going to come at me with all the man you've got, then don't bother."

He glared at her, then got to his feet. "I'm man enough for you, bitch."

"Don't make me laugh." She continued in a low voice. "I don't spend my time stroking and hugging and giving butterfly kisses - save it for your Princess. When you're ready to remember that you are an animal, then I'll let you come back and beg for it. Until then, you can just sit here picking her flowers, hoping one day she'll run out of people to brush her fucking hair, and then you can hop up and volunteer for the job," she said scathingly.

He gave a primal rumble, deep in his chest, but she was already sprinting away, and he could hear her jumping up the steps to the cabin and shutting the door.

Victor started pacing aimlessly in the gloaming, not noticing where he was going. His balls ached, both from their connection with Tanya's bony knee, and from the prospect of sex being ripped so suddenly away from him. He lashed out with his claws, scraping them against a tree.

And even his sore testicles couldn't completely distract him from the thing that was causing the pit in his stomach: Tanya was right. Although he'd tried to prevent it, and deny it, he was in love with Lorelei. And of course he fucking _knew_ he had no chance with her. She was still sort of scared of him, for one thing, and there was his brother, for another. Even if he were the kind of man who would steal his brother's mate (which he was), Jimmy would come kill him deader than dead without hesitation if he ever touched her again.

He hadn't deliberately tried to be so tender with Tanya, didn't even realize he was doing it, but he acknowledged now that he had been gentler, envisioning it was Lorelei's supple body that was responding to his touch, and her hands reaching for his manhood. He cursed himself for allowing this fantasy to take control of his body, since now he didn't get any sex, and was completely humiliated in front of Tanya. In her eyes, he had just joined the ranks of simpering, drooling pricks who saw Lorelei as the sexy Siren incarnate.

Which, fair enough, was true. She was breathtaking, and he was captivated by her. But beauty wasn't everything. In spending the last month at their house, Victor had watched her with young Jamie - the way she doted on him, the way he worshipped her - and he knew that he also loved and desired this aspect of her. He wanted young of his own: cubs that would follow _him_ around, looking up to _him_. And he wanted Lorelei to care for them the way she did with little Jamie.

He also saw how she molded her body against Jimmy's, glad to see him and embracing him when he came home for the day, and Victor wanted that, too. He wanted her kissing _his_ cheek, making _him_ dinner, gasping from _his_ touch between their sheets at night. _Fuck_, he realized. _I think I want her to be _my_ wife. Dammit._

Kicking his way through the bushes, he found himself suddenly coming out between branches onto the crumbly top of a cliff, one he'd never walked along before. The lake spread deep blue below the summit on which he stood, the water reflecting the sunset back up to the sky.

A little movement caught his eye way down below, and he looked at the earthen shore, where he could see Lorelei walking, with something in her hand that he couldn't make out. She stopped and set the thing down, then bent over and removed her shoes.

Victor was confused by this, though he probably shouldn't have been, so it was a surprise then when Lorelei reached behind her, unzipping her dress and stepping out of it. His mouth dropped open, and he instinctively stepped partway behind one of the wild, overgrown trees nearby, even though she clearly had no idea he was there.

Her body was so fair, her long dark hair standing out against the whiteness of her skin, and her breasts hung ripe on her chest, the nipples looking small and pink and delicious, even from this far away. Victor only had a second to admire them before she slid her black panties off her hips, exposing a chestnut triangle at the apex of her thighs - the same color as the hair on her head - which now captured his attention.

Victor leaned precariously on the shelf of soil, stretching himself to get as close as possible to her nakedness. She turned to the water, taking a few steps forward and dipping her toes in, exposing her curvy waist and gorgeously round ass at the same time. Turning again so that he saw her front, Lorelei reached for the objects she'd set down, which Victor now realized were soap and a towel.

Faster than he would have thought possible, he had his pants unzipped and pushed slightly down, and he held his cock in his hand. He sighed, rubbing the head of it with his thumb, and gripped it firmly with his palm; the whole shaft was rock-hard from looking at Lorelei's nude body, and it felt hot, too.

He began stroking it up and down, gripping a sturdy branch with his other hand for support as he started to get a little unstable from the attention. He looked down at her, increasing his speed a little as he jerked himself off, and threw back his head as he imagined he was buried inside her.

_Or her mouth _. . . . Victor moaned softly, thinking about her warm, wet lips engulfing him. That did it, and he ejaculated, blowing his load all over the leaves in front of him, trying not to get any on his shoes. He exhaled, feeling a little lightheaded.

"Just what the _hell_ are you doing?" asked Logan's voice quietly behind him.


	13. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It was on the tip of Victor's tongue to say something sarcastic; it was fairly obvious what he was doing, since he was standing there with his dick in his hand, but he thought he should probably not antagonize Jimmy right now. "Nothing," he grunted, quickly zipping his fly.

Logan stepped closer to look past Victor's shoulder, beyond the shrub that was now decorated with his seed, and saw Lorelei naked on the shore, standing up to her ankles in water and lathering herself all over with white suds.

Victor took this brief second that his brother's attention was occupied and looked around. Now he realized where he was: behind and beyond the new house, in an area more densely packed with flora, no discernible trail anywhere amongst the vegetation. And there was a reason for that, of course: this area of the shore below them was the bathing spot, so the breakfront of bushes kept them from accidentally encountering each other while they were busy washing off.

Usually.

Logan was motionless, struck dumb while he tried to reconcile this impossible tableau in his mind. He was looking down at his nude wife, soapy bubbles dripping down the lush curves of her body, with the scent of another man's completion in his nose. He blinked and squinted a little, as if he expected this picture to change, and then when it didn't . . . Logan felt something snap inside of him.

He knew Victor hadn't laid hands on her, that their position was far above Lorelei, and she was clearly unaware that she was being watched, too, but Victor's defiling her in this way still did something to Logan.

Victor was already launching himself backward, getting ready to burst through the bushes and thunder away down the path. Logan's hand shot out, adamantium claws extended, attempting to grasp his brother's throat, and his fingers closed on empty air.

With a roar that he could hear echoing in the trees on the other side of the lake, Logan pounded through the dirt after his brother, who made it down the path and between the two small houses in a few bounds, reaching the relative safety of the woods. But Logan felt himself fueled by a molten rage, his reaction time getting quicker and quicker as he anticipated where Victor would go, and sprinted there.

Ironically, they wound up not too far from the little clearing where they'd fought the first day Victor arrived, the tree that Logan's heavy body had crashed into was lying in the same spot, jagged tear rending it separate from its stump, which was still in the ground.

Finally getting close enough to sink his claws in Victor, Logan stabbed him deeply and twisted, then pulled, bringing Victor close to his chest. Victor did the only thing he was capable of doing at this point, and kicked Logan's feet out from under him, landing them in a gasping heap on the ground, which was not necessarily an improvement, in Victor's estimation.

Despite the fact that Logan was the "little" brother, and all of one inch shorter than Victor, his metal skeleton made him a great deal heavier. It also made him a bit slower, which Victor belatedly realized would have given the advantage to himself if he'd stayed on his feet, instead of knocking them down. Now, Logan was on top of him, astride his waist to keep him from being able to sit up, kneeling on Victor's forearms so hard he felt one or two of the long bones snap. Logan hooked his feet behind him on top of Victor's thighs, and with his brother thus immobilized, began pummeling his face with fists and claws, his blades slicing deeply into Victors' neck and chest.

The adamantium connecting with his skull was making Victor's head ring, but he became dimly aware that Logan was speaking - grunting, actually - at him as he punched.

"Always. Always. Always!" he growled. "You always have to try to ruin everything I have. What the fuck was I thinking, trusting you? How. Could. You. Do. That. To. Her?!"

"She didn't see me," Victor offered, which garnered him a punch right in the mouth, knocking several teeth precariously loose. _Shut __up, Victor,_ he said to himself. _You are not helping. _

"Why did I ever let you stay here?" The words tore painfully from Logan's throat. "You will never change. You will always be the son of a bitch who destroys everything he touches. Of course you would taint something as precious as she is."

Aside from the physical pain, which was giving his healing factor a run for his money, Victor felt a deep emotional wound growing and spreading from the hurt and betrayal he could hear in Jimmy's voice. He felt a wash of shame, a feeling that he hadn't experienced in so many years. Maybe never.

Then he heard a small sound coming from the forest behind Logan, and his ears pricked up, wondering what it was. Logan heard it, too, and paused briefly in his assault on Victor to turn his head, allowing them both to catch a glimpse of Spark, peeking out from behind a tree, tears in his eyes and looking impossibly young as his lip trembled at seeing Victor's peril.

"Spark!" Tanya shrieked, catching up to him a second later. Her eyes were huge as she took in the scene: Victor lying beneath his brother, face now healed but covered in blood, and Logan, with shining claws extended, sweat dripping down his head and neck, and his expression wild.

Tanya knew better than to do anything other than get away from the two huge men, immediately. The middle of a fight between two dominant ferals was no place for _anyone_. She didn't wait for Spark to respond to her, she just picked him up - his long, skinny legs dangling almost to the ground - and ran away, back toward the cabin.

The distraction that these two had provided gave Victor just enough leverage to jackknife his body, bucking Logan off of him, and although he would not have done this with anyone but Jimmy, because it looked like he was running away, he climbed up a tree, digging his claws into the bark. He knew that tree-climbing was not as easy for the Runt.

"Come. Down." Logan seethed, knowing that Victor would not.

"Jimmy, just let me explain," Victor called, privately wondering what the hell he was going to say in explanation. It was pretty simple: he'd been beating off while looking at Lorelei's tits. _Yeah, that's not going to go over too well. _

"There's nothing to explain," said the Wolverine, through gritted teeth. "She is _mine_. I forgave you once for violating her. Never. Again. You will leave. Now!"

Victor stared down at his brother, wondering if there was anything he could possibly say at this point to repair things, but Logan stood firm, claws still out and waiting, Victor realized, for him to actually get out of his sight.

Victor narrowed his eyes and snarled at him, to clear the guilt and sorrow he was feeling from inside of him, and he leapt to the next tree trunk, and the next: always moving farther and farther away from Jimmy, the only real family he'd ever known.

Logan was still breathing heavily as he watched Creed disappear into the shadows, the night growing suddenly dark now that the sun had finally slipped below the horizon. His blood was surging, his hands were shaking, and he felt the beast inside of him writhing and howling, still commanding him.

Without thinking, he turned and ran, fleet-footed, to the little house and burst through the door, slamming and locking it behind him. Lorelei was inside, in the front room, and she had her back to him as she hung her damp towel on a wall peg, although she gave a little jump when she heard the door noise.

"Oooh! Oh Baby, you were right, that water was so cold!" She shivered a little as she said this. "I couldn't wash my hair - I'll have to do it in a bucket tomorrow or something." Lorelei was walking around the room now, lightly straightening up, which she did every night before she went to bed. She hadn't noticed his blood-spotted shirt, his mussed-up hair, or his crazed expression.

He was struggling, warring with himself and his Wolverine, horrified and confused about how he was feeling, but having the compulsion that it was necessary to get the smell of Victor's semen out of his nose _right away._ He crossed the room to her, grasping her waist and pulling her close, smashing his lips against hers.

"Logan!" she protested, stepping back and rubbing her chin where it had been struck by his. "What are you- James! What happened?!" She had just noticed the blood.

He ripped the shirt off. "Nothing. Come here. Now."

"That's blood on you! Are you okay?" She ignored his command, her voice sounding panicky as she scanned him for some clue about his current circumstance.

"It's Victor's," he said curtly, kicking off his boots. He reached out for her, grabbing her around the waist again and kissing her, his hot, sweaty body at odds with her clean, cool skin.

"But- Logan- " She was trying to pry her lips from his and finish questioning him. "Is Victor all right?"

"Doesn't matter." Logan replied, yanking open the fly of his jeans and dropping them to the floor. He stood before her: big, tall, and naked. "He's gone."

"What are you doing?" Lorelei turned her attention away from the spatters of blood on his neck and arms and clocked his countenance. "Will you just stop and tell me why you are so upset?"

"No," he said, holding her shoulders so that he could bring her closer, his erection brushing against the folds of her skirt.

"Logan! You have to talk to me!" Lorelei voice was getting higher in pitch. "I am not having sex with you until you tell me what is going on."

This made his inner animal lash out, protesting the concept that sex was not imminent. Logan was of the same mind as the Wolverine within: he had to drive away the memory of Lorelei's naked body being the source of Victor's pleasure. He stopped his pursuit, and his voice got very, very low.

"When I want you, I'm going to have you."

His voice had a commanding edge to it she didn't recognize, and she looked at him in surprise.

"But when . . . I want it, too. With my consent, right?"

His eyes were searing into her. "Why wouldn't you consent to me, Lorelei?"

She was openmouthed at this point, at a slight loss for words. "We're married - isn't it a decision we make together?"

Logan moved quickly toward her, standing very close, and latched one hand firmly onto her breast. His other hand reached around to the back of her head, gathering her hair into a tail he held in his fist, his grip aiming her face to look directly at him, and no where else. He spoke softly to her: "If I need your body, I will take it." He pulled slowly downward on her hair, her cervical vertebrae bending willingly to display her neck to him. He removed his hand from her breast, and placed it on her ass instead, tugging her flush with him so she could feel his hardness against her belly.

His mouth bent to her throat, nipping her none-too-gently on the tender skin there. She gasped, and he pulled her more snugly against his big, solid frame with a little growl. Tears sprang to her eyes as he opened his mouth against her neck, sucking hard for one brief second before he released her hair and wrapped both arms around her in an embrace, pressing her to his chest. She exhaled, feeling a confusing mixture of emotions, unsure how to reconcile this dominating male against her loving husband.

Logan gave her no quarter for her contemplations, however, and scooped her up into his arms with a hungry kiss, entering the back bedroom and closing the gap to their bed with a few steps, dropping her onto the mattress. His strong hands literally ripped her dress and panties off of her, and she felt a pang of disappointment at the loss of her clothing, for which she chided herself, since she probably ought to be more afraid of the Wolverine that held him in sway, and was surprised that she wasn't.

He sucked again at the same spot on her neck, which was now starting to feel a little painful, and his fingers dug into her thighs as he pushed them roughly apart, entering her with a guttural, primal sound deep in his chest. She felt sort of detached from the situation as she evaluated and tried to focus on how to calm the wild beast that had arisen to take over Logan. Along the gradiation between man and animal, his actions showed that he was suddenly, inexplicably, veering hard toward the mentality of the Wolverine.

Lorelei delved into an instinctual, submissive space, hoping that this would be the key to subduing him. She lifted her arms and placed them above her head on the bed, giving him access to her breasts and stomach. She made a tiny feminine whimper, closing her eyes and tilting her chin up and to the side again to offer him the spot on her neck that pulsed with every heartbeat. His response to this was another low, manly growl of anticipation, and he sat back on his heels, the metal bones in his fingers clamping onto her hips hard enough to bruise, and started to increase his speed as he - there was no other word for it - _fucked_ her.

His deep, hard strokes lasted only a few minutes, then he climaxed spectacularly, with a force she could feel inside of her. She lay still as he withdrew himself and collapsed on top of her, and she waited for him to speak. He slid his arms underneath her, and lifted her on top of him, holding her for a long time in silence, his lips against her hair.

When he finally began to talk, his voice sounded uneven and unfamiliar. "I came too close to losing you before - that's not happening again. I'm laying my claim on you: marking you, mating you . . . whatever I have to do."

She lay still, not understanding what he was talking about, and tried to think of what to say to allay her husband's insecurities. But before she could speak he rolled her onto her stomach, held both her wrists in one hand, bit the nape of her neck, and mounted her again.


	14. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Logan woke with the dawn, his body alerting him from his somnolent state that he was alone in bed: Lorelei was gone.

He peered down at Jamie's nest of blankets, and the dark-haired little boy was still asleep, thumb in his mouth. Logan sighed with relief, then leapt up and out the door, too wild to find her to get dressed.

Her scent in the air was fresh, and he followed it easily to the lake, where she sat on the ground looking out at the water, wrapped in the quilt from their bed. He was panting from running the whole way, and he took a few deep breaths, then sat down naked behind her, his legs on either side of her and her back snug to his chest, keeping his hands neutrally resting on his thighs; he didn't ask her if she wanted him to sit down with her, because he was too afraid that she'd say no.

Logan was still for a long moment, then bent his head and kissed her shoulder, through the quilt. "I'm sorry."

"I know," she said, and he could smell her tears in the air.

"I thought for a second that you had left. Left me."

She made a scornful noise, which was very unlike her. "I'm your wife, Logan. That means something to me."

He was taken aback by her implication. "It means something to me, too."

"Does it?" she choked, sounding close to crying again. "Logan, I married you because I love you. Not because I was pregnant, or because I needed your protection. But why did you marry me? Am I just- just- a vessel, for you to fill as you please?"

"No." His vehemence turned quickly to anger. "No, and I have never treated you like that. I love you."

"Then what _happened_?" she cried, her tears falling faster. "Last night . . . that just wasn't you."

"Yes, it was," he said stonily. "I tried to tell you a long time ago that there is an animal in me - it's a struggle to keep it down. Sometimes the Wolverine comes out, takes what is mine."

"When have I ever denied you?" She scooted forward, away from him, so that she could turn to look at his face. "I am your _wife_; I am _not_ your mate. I am NOT just something for you to come home and fuck, with no explanation."

She rose to her feet, but he was sitting on the quilt that covered her, and it slipped off her shoulders, falling across Logan's legs. He flinched when he looked at her body: he could see purple finger-shaped bruises on each hip, a livid red hickey on her neck, and probably most shameful of all, a semicircle of teeth marks on one breast.

He jumped up immediately, holding the quilt and wrapping it around her, along with his arms. His male posturing all fell away from him, replaced by disappointment and self-loathing for treating his wife this way. He crushed her to his chest. "Forgive me. Lorelei - I don't know how to do this. I want to be the man you need. But the animal is always there, inside me.

"Before, on the Island, you were _taken_ from me, and that scared the shit out of me; it makes me feel like I'm not protecting you, or I'm not keeping you safe. Fear takes me someplace primal, every time. It makes me treat you like your Alpha, not your husband. But I _don't_ want you to need protection from me. I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me?"

"Yes." She laid her head on his shoulder, relaxing slightly. "But what is it that you are afraid of?"

He hesitated, and she pressed him. "Logan, you aren't being honest with me."

"It's Victor. Last night, just before I . . . came inside to you, I found him watching you on the shore while you were bathing, and jacking himself at the same time. Aargh!" Logan half-howled as his rage flared. "He wants you. I'm never going to let him get near you. Just thinking about all this makes me want to throw you down and have you again. I won't," he added quietly.

"I'm really sore," she whispered. "But you said that- that you told him to leave?"

"Yes." He tightened his arms around her in a hug and kissed her hair. "Come back with me, please. Let me wash you off."

Without waiting for her response, he picked her up in his arms, cradling her to his chest, and walked back to their house. He laid her carefully on their bed, slipping on his jeans and then scooped up little Jamie, still sleeping, and headed outside. He came back in after a minute, alone, and told her, "Tanya's going to watch him today. I think we need some privacy, for now."

Logan heated water on the little stove, which they'd transferred over from the cabin, and poured the warm liquid into a bowl, grabbing her towel off the peg, along with a smaller washcloth. He cast off the jeans, so that they were both naked, and he laid next to her on the bed, rolling her slightly to get the towel spread out underneath her.

She looked up at him, and he bent to kiss her forehead, then met her eyes. "Are you scared of me?" he asked her, softly. She stroked his beard with her delicate fingertips.

"No," she said. "Should I be?"

"Never," he replied firmly. He touched her lips with his, very gently. "And I never want to give you a reason to be."

Lifting himself up slightly on his elbow, he dipped the washcloth into the bowl of water that he'd balanced on the bed, squeezing out the excess drips. Slowly, reverentially, he touched the wet cloth to her breasts, wiping tenderly across her skin. He knew that he couldn't remove the marks that his teeth had made on her - those would have to heal on their own - but he wanted to cleanse her of the sweat and saliva that he knew he'd left behind during his insane hours of passion.

She closed her eyes, relaxing back into the pillow, and he soaked the cloth in water again, this time dragging it across her belly, then around her neck and under her jaw. Logan lifted one corner of her towel to dry off the moisture, and plunged the washcloth back into the bowl, wringing it out well.

Now, he edged her legs apart and applied the cloth between them, holding it in place for a moment to act as a soothing compress, then making tiny, feathery motions to wipe her clean. She sighed, and he placed the bowl on the ground so that he could move himself closer to her, getting both arms around her and kissing into her hair. His solid body warmed her and she fell asleep, hearing his voice just before she drifted off: "I love you. And I'm _sorry_."

00000000000000000000

Lorelei awoke a couple of hours later, stretching and rolling onto her side.

"Hi." Logan had brought a dining chair into the doorway of their small bedroom, and he was slumped in it, barefoot in just his jeans, watching her sleep.

"Hi," she said back, sitting up. He came right over and sat beside her, embracing her and rubbing her bare back. He'd been continually touching her all morning, deliberate contact that emphasized how gentle he usually was with her, how much their bodies responded to one other's - a demonstration to them both that on the spectrum of man to animal, he'd left behind the primal extreme in favor of his humanity.

"Will you get dressed? I want us to go for a walk," he told her. "I thought we should have some time alone today - not having sex," he clarified, briefly stilling his hands in his lap.

"I agree," she assented, smiling at him, and he kissed her as he stood up to grab a shirt.

Once they were both fully attired, they walked outside, the morning slightly overcast, and Logan led her down the path to the lake, holding her hand. They took off their shoes to follow the shoreline, finally winding up all the way on the other side of the water, where there were huge rocks that jutted out into it. Climbing up them, Logan boosted her high, taking her to a plateau with a clover-covered meadow, the sunlight just barely breaking through the clouds to shine down upon them.

"This is beautiful." Lorelei beamed. "How have we lived here two years and I've never seen this?"

"I just found it the other night, when I was running . . . with Victor," replied Logan, still grimacing a little at mentioning his brother's name. "But I only saw it in the darkness, so I thought it would be pretty to bring you here during the day."

"Thank you," she said, standing on tiptoe to kiss his beard.

"Come sit with me," he gestured to a particularly dense-looking patch of green. "I want to talk to you . . . discuss things."

The suggestion was a significant one coming from her normally taciturn husband, and Lorelei sat down next to him. He tenderly picked up her hands.

"I _love_ you," he began. "You - and Jamie - are my everything. I was thinking this morning about me, well, going crazy last night. I gave in to instincts, I let the animal take over. I know that. But that makes me worried for you, and it's not who I want to be for you. I don't ever want it to happen again.

"And I realized," he continued, "that I just didn't ever woo you."

She had to smile. "Woo me?"

He smiled back. "You know. Court you. Win you over."

"My love, I am _won_," she insisted, pressing his hands to her heart.

He kissed her. "I know, Baby. What I mean is that when we were first . . . us, we were both already living under the same roof, at Xavier's. We met, we were colleagues, then we were lovers. I saw you, and I knew you were perfect," he kissed her again, "and I had to have you. It was instinctual.

"Then we found out that Jamie was on the way," he smiled, "and you became the mother of my child, and I protected you both. Instincts again. Things have been moving so fast since then, we can barely keep up. And I think that I need to set the instincts aside, and allow myself to really get to know the woman I love."

Lorelei listened and thought about all this, and she nodded. "I agree. I wouldn't change what we have now for anything, Logan. I love you and I love Jamie, and here is where I want to be." She placed their clasped hands on his chest. "But," she said, moving closer and laying herself halfway across his lap, "I want to know all of you, too. I think it will help me to better understand you, and the Wolverine. The man, and the animal inside." She ran her fingertips over the backs of his hands.

He cuddled her carefully in his arms and kissed her, then pulled back to look at her. "So first, Lorelei: will you show me what you keep inside? What do _you_ want?"

She was pensive for a moment, then looked up. "I want . . . to try suppressing my powers. It could make a difference for me, maybe, if I'm actually successful. And I didn't know why you were so opposed to it."

"Because I'm a grumpy asshole, and I don't like change," he admitted. "It freaked me out when I could feel you doing that to me. I'm just so used to processing your signature in one way." He illustrated this by leaning forward, his hands on her shoulders, and running his nose up her neck, behind her ear, and taking a big whiff of her hair.

"And, I think . . . it made me nervous about us," he said in a quieter voice.

"What do you mean?" Lorelei asked him.

"When we were first together, you told me that it was how you knew my feelings for you were real: because I could block your sensory projections with my own ability, you knew that I wasn't just being affected by the Siren." He looked down. "I guess I was worried that . . . if you could make it so that no one could feel your abilities, did that make me less- less- "

"Special?" Lorelei ventured.

He shrugged. "Needed." She rose up onto her knees, holding him and pressing his face softly to her breasts. It had never occurred to her that this big, sexy, kind, wonderful man would ever feel insecure. "Nothing could change what you mean to me, James," she whispered in his ear. "I will always love you and need you. And that's not why I would want to suppress my mutation. I just want to know that, if I ever had to, I could."

He nodded. "I think I'll let you try on me again - but later," he affirmed.

She moved back into his lap. "Logan? Can you tell me what _you_ want?"

He squeezed her. "I want . . . someone to go run with, in the night. Until I did that again with my brother, I didn't realize how much I missed it. And maybe that will help me with releasing that aspect of the Wolverine some, so that I don't try to do it with you. So yes, it would be nice to have someone to do that with. I guess I'll be able to take Jamie, once he's not so little," he finished speculatively.

"What about a dog?" Lorelei suggested. "I, um, I really hope that's not offensive," she rushed to add.

He laughed loudly. "No, not offensive. And you're right. A dog would be a good idea, and might actually be able to keep up with me."

Lorelei grinned, and then started twisting her fingers in her hair. "I want . . . to teach again," she said slowly. "I actually really liked it, when we were at Xavier's. I miss my students, and grading their Chem exams." She caught his eye with a twinkle in her own. "I miss figuring things out in my head and doing equations. Being home with Jamie was such a precious time for me, but now that he's getting bigger, I feel okay about the idea of being away from him sometimes, if I were teaching. And I think . . . that's part of the reason I want to suppress my powers. So that I can be around people, around students, and feel secure if I could find a job again."

Logan showed mild surprise. "I didn't realize that, but it makes sense, Baby. You are so smart, and you're a very good teacher. Of course I'd want to help you find a way to do something you enjoy."

"Thank you," she said modestly, blushing a little.

Logan took a deep breath. "I _don't_ want . . . to have another baby." He looked at her, his eyes sad.

"I don't, either," Lorelei admitted. He searched her, trying to determine if she were just placating him. "Truly, Logan."

He pressed her hands with his. "Jamie is wonderful, he's the best thing ever. But I think we need to slow down the pace of our lives."

"And we wouldn't have to worry more about money, or safety," she said. "It is overwhelming, to think of you out at a job site, with me all alone trying to keep track of more than one child."

"I like things how they are now- " he said.

"Me, too," she interrupted.

"-and it's important to me that we have the chance to just be together. Do this kind of stuff: get to know each other," Logan finished.

"I agree," Lorelei affirmed. "I never got so far as to envision my life being married with kids. Because of my mutation, I just didn't know if that would ever happen. But now that I'm here, I love this, and it's enough.

"Remember when Hank was telling us about how unlikely it is for two mutants to have children?" she reminded him. "I've been kind of wondering if we just don't work that way together any more, after the one pregnancy."

"I know what you mean," said Logan. "Like there might be a reason that even though we're together all the time, no other little one has come along."

"So no second baby," said Lorelei.

"No second baby." He held her closely to him for a minute, kissing her forehead, eyebrows, and temples.

"I want . . . you to make love to me," Lorelei stated, her cheeks pink as she bit her lower lip.

He smiled. "I thought we were going to talk today - no sex? And didn't we just say we weren't going to have another baby?"

She slid her hands under his shirt, feeling the hard ridges of muscle there. "Let's roll the dice one more time," she said, covering his mouth with hers.


	15. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Walking back to the house later, arms wrapped each other's waists, Logan and Lorelei came up behind the patch of dirt where Tanya and Spark were trying to teach Jamie how to play hopscotch.

"No, like _this_," said Spark, leaping high over the square that held his smooth round stone.

"Sparky, it's just for fun," warned his mother in an indulgent tone. "He can't even jump yet, he's too little."

"Mama!" Jamie had noticed his parents' approach, and was scurrying off into his mother's arms, kicking up the lines Tanya had drawn on the ground.

Lorelei knelt and embraced her little boy, covering his cheeks with kisses. "Mmm, I missed you today," she breathed.

"Are you guys hungry? I made dinner," Tanya offered, sounding a bit proud. "Spark, you want to get out the plates and things?"

They arranged themselves on chairs and stumps outside, Jamie sitting in his favorite seat atop Logan's knee, with Lorelei breaking off little bits of food from her plate and popping them in his mouth with her fingers.

Suddenly, Spark leapt to his feet. "Victor!" he shrieked. He ran across the yard area to where Victor had, indeed, emerged from the treeline. His youthful exuberance taking control, Spark sprinted headlong into Victor's legs, pressing his face into the side of Victor's pants as he embraced the big man.

After a second, he thought better of this, and dropped his arms to his sides, rubbing his eyes, which had started to water. "I'm glad you're okay," Spark muttered.

"Thanks," Victor replied, putting his hand on the child's head and rubbing his hair absently as he walked forward, eyes on Logan.

The Wolverine was livid with anger, but forced into stillness by the fact that Jamie was still on his lap and in his arms. Victor took advantage of this, moving closer.

"I'm not staying," he said. "I came for them." He jerked his head at Tanya and Spark.

Logan was stunned, his mouth opening slightly. Lorelei snuck a glance at Tanya, who had a look of curiosity on her face, mixed with a hefty amount of determinedness.

Victor walked over to where Tanya sat, without hesitation in his steps. He stood very close to her and grasped her upper arm; Lorelei could see the claw on his thumb was piercing her skin, just slightly. He pulled, lifting her into a sitting position.

"You two are coming with me," he told her in a low voice. She looked up at him unflinchingly - she was tall, but he was still much taller.

Moving as fast as a striking cobra, he ducked his head and latched his mouth onto Tanya's neck, over her carotid artery. Lorelei gave a tiny gasp, then covered her mouth with her hand. Victor let her go, straightening his neck. There were a few droplets of blood on Tanya's skin, and Victor wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

Then she nodded at him, walking into the little cabin. "Come on, Spark," she called. The little redhead looked at Victor, then followed her inside.

Lorelei got slowly to her feet, eyes on Logan, but her husband was still motionless, the thunderous expression on his face incongruous with the fact that he was holding a big piece of bread for Jamie to gnaw on, drool and soggy crumbs sliding down his huge hand.

But Lorelei really wanted to talk to Tanya, so she left her men there and went into the cabin, knowing that having Jamie there would ensure that Logan would not try to murder Victor, at least right that second.

Victor watched her go, then tried to make eye contact with his brother. "I was never going to- "

"Don't," said Logan in a threatening tone.

Inside, Lorelei saw that Spark was holding open one of the grocery bags from their previous trip to the store, and Tanya was tossing their meager collection of belongings into it. She snatched up the baseball cap and popped it onto Spark's head. "Buddy, go outside and grab your soccer ball - that can go in this empty bag. Then you just hold those two bags and wait by Victor. I'll be out in the minute."

"Okay, Mom!" said Spark, leaping out the door with enthusiasm

"Tanya . . . " Lorelei started, but Tanya held up one clawed hand.

"I don't know how to explain this to you, Lorelei," she said. "We need him. We need food, and protection, and shelter, and money . . . we need a male. He marked me," she indicated the now-healed puncture wound on her neck, "so that means he wants me - wants _us_," she corrected, "and that's good enough for me. We'll go with him, and this way I don't have to go back to the Island."

"But- but- " Lorelei sputtered. "You barely know him! Do you care about him?"

"Lorelei!" Tanya shouted. "I've told you before: that's just not how it works with ferals. We don't mate for love. We're each getting something out of this, and that's all we need. And honestly . . . I want more kids. Another baby. This is my chance - I'll have success with a feral sire."

Lorelei looked troubled. "Maybe you could all stay here a little while longer first?" she piped up. "I could talk to Logan- "

"He loves you." Tanya's voice was flat. "Lorelei, Victor loves you. We can't stay here. I'm sorry." Her voice had an absolute finality to it.

Lorelei closed her eyes, her shoulders slumping. She could see why Logan was so adamant about his brother leaving. She appreciated that Tanya had been honest with her.

"Well," Lorelei said, "I'm really going to miss you. It was nice having you here." Tears filled her eyes.

Tanya cleared her throat. "You're not so bad, yourself." Lorelei leaned forward and hugged her.

As the two women parted, Victor's figure loomed in the doorway. "Ready?" he asked Tanya, the question sounding more like a statement.

She headed out, brushing past him, and Victor cast one last glance inside at Lorelei.

"Take care of them," she blurted, looking into his eyes. "Be good to them."

Hands in his pockets, he swaggered inside, chuckling a little. "Princess, I've never been good in my life." He stepped very close to her. "This is the last you'll _ever_ see of the soft side of Victor Creed." Before she knew what was happening, he'd brought his face to hers and kissed her quickly, licking across her lips with the tip of his tongue as he came away. "But I'll take care of them," he said quietly, and then he was out the door, his trademark black overcoat flapping behind him.

"Let's go, kid," he said to Spark, kneeling down and flinging the boy across his shoulders to give him a piggyback ride. Adjusting the grinning redhead to a better seat, he nodded at Logan one last time. "I'll see you, Jimmy." And with that final farewell, Victor, his mate, and his cub disappeared into the trees.

Lorelei came forward, behind Logan's chair, and slid her hands along his shoulders, kissing the back of his neck, his ears, his cheek and jaw, then she circled the chair, planting herself on his other knee, sitting in his lap opposite little Jamie.

"I was thinking," she said brightly, to change the mood, "that the last time we were at the store, I heard Mr. Cooper saying that his neighbor's dog was going to have puppies. And that since they thought it was a wolf that fathered them, they were going to have trouble giving them away. What do you think?"

"I think we're getting this man a dog," smiled Logan, hugging his son. "And I was thinking," he echoed her phrasing, "that the logging crew is going to shut down in a month or so, once we start getting freezing temperatures. What do you think about living in the city, maybe applying to teach the winter term at that junior college?"

Lorelei's eyes lit up. "That sounds perfect! But what about our house? You just finished it."

"Just for the winter, Love," said Logan. "Then we can come back here when the weather isn't so harsh."

"Mmm," she said, kissing him. "I love it. And thank you. You were right that we need to talk more." She stroked his hair.

"I definitely have something to get across, later." He ran his hand down her back and patted her bottom suggestively. "How did I get so lucky, huh?" he asked, squeezing her and Jamie.

"We're all lucky," Lorelei replied. "We're your family."


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

Logan walked through the trees on the far side of the lake, his big, shaggy wolf-dog beside him, as they both tasted the air and pondered the new scent they encountered. Scratching his chin at the familiarity of the smell, Logan recognized what - or rather, _who_ - it was, just before his brother Victor Creed appeared in the distance.

"Jimmy," the big feral said, grinning.

"Victor," Logan replied warily. "What're you doing here?"

"Hunting." The Sabretooth licked his lips.

Suddenly, they both heard footsteps in the distance that were closing in on them. Fast. Logan crouched in a more defensive posture, but Victor just held out one hand, as if keeping the sound at bay.

"Dad?" The voice came from a tree behind Victor, and in another moment a small figure appeared. "Spark said he was going up ahead on that peak, because he thought he smelled some catamounts." The child speaking was about eight or nine, a willowy girl with tawny curls, tiny claws, and feline eyes.

Victor sighed, lifting his eyebrows in camaraderie with Logan, as if to commiserate about the trials of fatherhood. "Okay, you can head up there, too. I'll just be another minute, Princess."

The little girl disappeared in a flash, the air undisturbed, as if she'd never been there at all.

Logan softened. "You have a daughter?"

"Yeah. Hard to believe?" Victor chuckled.

"Not really," Logan said dubiously. "I'm glad for you. Did you- did you want to come to the house to say hello?"

Victor's nostrils flared as he inhaled deeply, clearly catching the whiff of Lorelei that was still clinging to Logan's clothes and skin. "No. Not a good idea. The kids need me, anyway - they're still learning."

"I understand," said Logan. "Well . . . take care, Victor."

His brother turned and bounded away, pushing off of tree trunks and clearing felled timber as he jumped, still as limber as ever. On one giant log he paused, twisting around in his crouch and looking over his shoulder at Logan. "Hey! Jimmy!" he called.

"Yeah?" Logan cupped his hands around his mouth to shout back.

"Kiss her for me," Victor said devilishly, and winked.

Logan growled and curled his hand up in a fist, claws extending, but Victor was already gone.

**Author's Note: Thank you all for reading and enjoying this story along with me. A ficlet spinoff of this series is now posted, entitled After the Woods. **


End file.
